Cheng Shenzhi pulled the door shut and stood where he was for a moment, raising one hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Rein in your pheromones."
A cold voice suddenly sounded behind him. Cheng Shenzhi turned slightly and saw Xu Jianqian leaning in a chair not far away, eyes closed, looking half dead.
But that was normal enough.
Or rather, if Xu Jianqian were full of energy right now, that would be when something was wrong.
"I just finished attending a conference overseas, flew back overnight to perform surgery, then Grandfather dragged me back to examine Little Brother, and the moment I turn around, you, this great deity, have a problem too." Xu Jianqian sounded utterly exhausted. "Go on. What happened?"
Cheng Shenzhi was not particularly moved. He knew his biological younger brother's workaholic nature very well. In truth, he himself was no better.
He simply walked slowly over to Xu Jianqian, tipped his chin at him, and said, "Talk while we walk."
Xu Jianqian complained as he stood.
Cheng Shenzhi first asked, "How is Little Brother?"
"His heat cycle can't be determined until after he reaches adulthood anyway. It's only the old residence that's panicking. And Xing Yue has been stuck to him every minute since a year ago. What could possibly happen under those circumstances?"
Xu Jianqian grumbled. Cheng Shenzhi only gave an almost imperceptible nod.
It was not until they entered Xu Jianqian's office and Cheng Shenzhi watched him rummage around for his white coat that he said very calmly, "I'm getting married. Wish me a happy marriage."
"?"
Hearing that out of nowhere, Xu Jianqian thought his lack of sleep had finally made him hallucinate.
He calmly pulled out his white coat, then took a pair of silver-rimmed glasses from the pocket. "Sorry, I wasn't wearing my glasses just now, so I didn't hear clearly. Say that again?"
Cheng Shenzhi could not be bothered repeating himself. Instead he asked, "Can my rut be delayed?"
That was the real reason he had come to Xu Jianqian.
Xu Jianqian pushed up his glasses. Only after putting them on did he feel as though his floating body had landed back in reality. He sat behind the desk and gave a cold laugh.
"Of course. You can push your rut all the way to the day before you die. Then once you're in the coffin, your pheromones can still be crushing us to our knees before your honored corpse. How does that sound? Tempting?"
Cheng Shenzhi said flatly, "I don't have that fetish."
Xu Jianqian answered with perfect calm, "Being born into this family and studying this branch of medicine is my karmic punishment."
Cheng Shenzhi neither agreed nor denied it.
After venting, Xu Jianqian casually pulled out Cheng Shenzhi's latest examination report. He scanned the data quickly, then stopped at the final line.
[Estimated next rut: Seven days later.]
He frowned.
When he had personally examined Cheng Shenzhi last time, the figure had still been nearly a month.
Even if Cheng Shenzhi's gland condition had been worsening over the past two years, it should not have deteriorated this badly.
That left only one possibility: during Xu Jianqian's business trip, his older brother had encountered some new stimulus.
Xu Jianqian sighed inwardly. Thinking of the kid from last time, then of Cheng Shenzhi's declaration that he was getting married, he roughly understood.
He wrote Cheng Shenzhi a prescription. "Have your assistant pick it up. Store it the same way as suppressants. As for how long it can delay things…"
He looked Cheng Shenzhi up and down and said uncertainly, "There aren't any alphas as high-ranked as you in the experimental sample. Maybe around two weeks?"
Too short.
Cheng Shenzhi said, "Write two more injections."
Xu Jianqian stared at him speechlessly. "What do you think this is, flatbread? Two weren't enough, so you want two more?"
Then he patiently explained, "In the clinical trial results, if this drug is used at high intensity over a short period, its effectiveness drops very sharply. If you use it as frequently as you're planning, the second injection would probably only last two days."
A line appeared between Cheng Shenzhi's brows.
After a pause, he handed Zhong Yu's examination results over. "Look at these. I want a recovery plan by tonight if possible."
Xu Jianqian: "…Tomorrow night."
Cheng Shenzhi frowned again, but after seeing the dark circles under his younger brother's eyes, he finally gave way. "Fine."
Only then did Xu Jianqian lower his head and begin reviewing the examination results. His brow gradually knotted. The farther he read, the tighter he frowned. By the time he reached the end, his expression was completely serious.
He warned, "Until I say it's safe, you'd better not mark him."
After all, unlike an omega, a beta was not naturally capable of accepting and enduring an alpha's mark and pheromones. And this child's body was even frailer than that of most omegas Xu Jianqian had seen.
Cheng Shenzhi gave a quiet acknowledgment. "I know."
Xu Jianqian still trusted his character, so his attitude softened slightly. Then his professional ethics came fully back online. "I'll put together a recuperation plan this afternoon. Read it carefully. I also know a few specialists. I'll screen them and send you some names later. Pick two to meet."
After saying that, he stared at Cheng Shenzhi for two seconds, then waved a hand and prescribed another two months of suppressants. "Contact me before your next rut. I'll come over and keep an eye on you."
Cheng Shenzhi took the prescription and only said, "Understood."
Before leaving the office, he paused slightly, turned his head toward Xu Jianqian, and asked, "What about that surgery I asked you about last time?"
Xu Jianqian: "…Although I sympathize with you for drawing the uncontrollable sex called alpha, I regret to inform you that gland-removal surgery for non-pathological reasons is illegal. In addition, there is currently no precedent for an S-rank alpha having the gland removed."
Three years ago, when Cheng Shenzhi's gland first began showing signs of disorder, the old family residence had started frantically finding one highly compatible omega after another.
But Cheng Shenzhi seemed to have been born without the part of the brain responsible for romance. Omegas of every style, every build, men and women alikeânot one of them had managed to exchange more than two sentences with him.
He had even gone down an unconventional path and begun researching gland-removal surgery.
Xu Jianqian had studied it with him for three years, yet still felt that road led nowhere.
Besides, Cheng Shenzhi now had someone he liked. From Xu Jianqian's understanding of him, if he had not liked the other person at first sight, Cheng Shenzhi would never have chosen to approach him in the first place.
Although that person was a physically frail beta who could not withstand marking at all, at least Cheng Shenzhi's emotions now had somewhere to go. That was far better than constantly forcing everything down with suppressants.
"During this trip overseas, I discussed it with my teachers. If you remove your gland, the most likely outcome is that the alpha pheromones will remain in your body and continue affecting your physiological cycles. But because you'd lose the ability to mark, your pheromone condition would only become worse."
After saying that, he stared expressionlessly at Cheng Shenzhi. "In conclusion, I recommend that you forget the idea."
Cheng Shenzhi frowned and clicked his tongue softly. His attitude was unreadable. He turned and left.
–
At five the following afternoon, Cheng Shenzhi took Zhong Yu out of the hospital.
Assistant Tao drove in front, while the two of them sat on opposite sides of the back seat.
The seats were broad and there was plenty of space, but being enclosed in the same vehicle with an alpha still made Zhong Yu somewhat uncomfortable.
Cheng Shenzhi, however, seemed not to feel that way at all.
"In a little while, I'll have Assistant Tao pick up Xiaoxiao and take her to an amusement park nearby. Once we finish dinner, we'll pick her up together and take both of you home. Is that all right?"
He was asking for Zhong Yu's opinion.
The moment Zhong Yu realized that, he finally relaxed a little.
…That was right.
From the very beginning, when they met in the rain, Mr. Cheng had always been a gentle and gentlemanly person.
Thinking that, Zhong Yu even began to feel faintly guilty for being so afraid of him all this time.
Out of that guilt, he proactively shifted a little closer to Cheng Shenzhi, indicating that the other man could decide everything.
Cheng Shenzhi lowered his eyes and, as though casually, glanced at the slightly reduced distance between them.
The restaurant occupied an entire floor high above the city center. The lighting was dim and intimate. In the middle stood a sofa draped with a soft, fluffy white blanket. Farther away, one could vaguely make out tall bookshelves and a folding screen, and behind the screen there seemed to be a bed.
