When Zhong Yu woke again, his whole body felt limp and weak.
Everything before him was dim. He still had not fully understood what had happened. He groped his way upright, and the soft white blanket slid from his body, revealing blue-and-white-striped hospital clothes.
His memories finally returned.
He remembered that glass of strong, choking alcohol, the hopeless sprint through the corridor, and…the man he had crashed into at the end.
Had that man saved him?
Zhong Yu's thoughts were a mess. Only belatedly did soreness spread through his body. His face changed. He stumbled out of bed, roughly figured out the direction, and went straight into the bathroom. Standing before the mirror, he pulled down his collar.
The hospital clothes were very loose, so he easily saw the body covered in marks…or more accurately, kiss marks.
His mind went completely blank. He could not react at all.
Was it that person?
Zhong Yu tried to recall what the man looked like, but even the attempt made his head ache. He did not know whether it was because of the alcohol or the effects of those drugs.
He walked back out with heavy thoughts. Fortunately, his phone lay quietly on the bedside cabinet, giving him a little sense of security.
When he picked up the phone, something fell with the movement. Zhong Yu endured the soreness in his body and bent to retrieve it, but the instant he saw what it was, his fingers froze.
It was a thin black bank card.
He did not know whether the man had accidentally left it behind or had deliberately placed it there.
He put the card back where it had been. His mind was nothing but confusionâhad that man…him? Had the card been left by him? For what purpose?
Just then, the phone in his left hand suddenly vibrated twice.
Zhong Yu temporarily set those questions aside and unlocked the screen.
The moment he opened it, the screen flooded with messages, all of them from Pan Wang.
[Get back here. Get the fuck back here!]
[You think you can run anywhere? Just wait. When the time comes, don't you dare kneel down and beg me to go easy on you!]
[I'm warning you, Young Master Zhou is very unhappy right now. You'd better pray you die out there and reunite with that bastard mother of yours!!]
Dense lines of text filled the screen.
Zhong Yu felt as though a hand had closed around his throat. Even his breathing stopped. Almost instinctively, he hurriedly scrolled all the way to the bottom.
The final message had been sent a day ago.
[That bastard little sister of yours can take a beating better than you can.]
It was a flat, ordinary sentence, yet it made all the blood in Zhong Yu's body turn cold. He could no longer care about anything else. He grabbed his phone and rushed out.
It seemed to be lunchtime. Astonishingly, Zhong Yu did not encounter anyone along the way. He made it out of the hospital smoothly and hailed a taxi.
The driver looked suspiciously at his blue-and-white-striped clothes. "Young man, did you sneak out of the hospital?"
Only then did Zhong Yu's feverish mind clear a little. He hesitated, opened his mouth, pointed at his throat, then rapidly typed: [No. There's an emergency at home. Please drive faster. I'll pay you extra.]
The instant the driver saw that, he stepped on the accelerator. The old taxi shot forward like an arrow and quickly merged into traffic.
After several minutes, Zhong Yu suddenly remembered that he had not left any contact information. But when he looked back, all around him were unfamiliar sights in a place he had never visited before.
The hospital had long since disappeared from view.
Zhong Yu pressed his lips together.
Although he had not clearly seen the man's appearance, he still remembered that instinctive fear, and…the scattered, blurry fragments of being pushed almost to the edge of collapse without even being able to let a sob escape his throat.
He was certain the man had been an extremely high-ranked alpha.
…No matter what, that person had truly helped him. Whatever else had happened, he absolutely would not have wanted people like Zhou Hui or Pan Wang to get what they wanted.
This outcome was already good enough.
He lowered his eyes and deliberately shoved everything that had happened over the past few days into the deepest part of his mind.
–
At the same time.
In an office at the hospital, a doctor wearing gold-rimmed glasses and looking every inch an elite professional leaned against the back of his chair, watching the alpha opposite him with a teasing expression.
"One piece of good news and one piece of bad news. Which do you want first?"
Cheng Shenzhi gave him a cold glance, and Xu Jianqian immediately raised both hands in surrender with helplessness.
"Fine, fine. The good news is that this rut of yours is over."
Cheng Shenzhi's brow furrowed. "And the bad news?"
"The bad news…"
Xu Jianqian pondered for a moment. Only when Cheng Shenzhi was about to lose patience did he say directly, "That kid isn't an omega."
After saying it, he studied the alpha opposite him.
Although Cheng Shenzhi appeared as calm as ever, the doctor knew him well enough to catch the slight tremor in his pupils and the disbelief it betrayed.
Cheng Shenzhi was silent for a moment before slowly asking, "Why did my rut come early?"
"Who knows?" Xu Jianqian shrugged. "Maybe alphas and omegas are simply unstable creatures by nature."
Cheng Shenzhi tapped a bent finger against the desk. "Xu Jianqian, if I remember correctly, you submitted your project application only two days ago."
Those words immediately struck Xu Jianqian at his weak point. He became obedient at once. "There are lots of possible reasons. Maybe that night you came into contact with an omega whose compatibility with you was high enoughâby 'high enough,' I generally mean above ninety. You know how difficult that is. Or maybe it's because you've forced your way through every rut for all these years, and this time you were simply unlucky and it erupted early. It could also have been affected by that expired suppressant injection…"
He concluded, "I think the second possibility is the most likely. Thank you, Dad, for making me a beta."
Cheng Shenzhi ignored him and continued, "How is his health?"
Xu Jianqian pushed the thick stack of reports on the desk toward him. "Very bad. See for yourself."
Frowning, Cheng Shenzhi took them and scanned line after line.
The jumble of high and low readings made his eyelid twitch. He thought again of how he had lost control that night, and his brow tightened as guilt stirred faintly inside him.
He stood. "Your application is approved. I'm taking the report."
Messages were still constantly popping up on his phone. Cheng Shenzhi skimmed them, then decided to visit Zhong Yu first. He had already investigated all of Zhong Yu's information and uncovered the truth of what had happened that night.
…What an excellent older brother. What an excellent father.
Perhaps because some kind of bond had formed between them, Cheng Shenzhi found himself feeling an unusual trace of pity for this young man he had only recently met.
But when he pushed open the partly closed hospital room door, he discovered the room was already empty.
Cheng Shenzhi's pupils contracted slightly.
He quickened his pace to the bed and reached out to touch it. The warmth had faded. Zhong Yu seemed to have been gone for quite a while.
When his gaze shifted slightly, he saw the black card lying quietly on the bedside cabinet.
It had obviously been moved.
Cheng Shenzhi pressed his hand over the card. Its coolness traveled into his palm as his gaze lowered.
–
The entire trip was filled with anxiety.
The taxi slowly stopped outside the residential community. Zhong Yu paid the fare and hurried out.
When the tips of his feet touched the ground, an unbearable soreness spread from the roots of his thighs. He frowned and endured it, moving more slowly until he steadied himself.
Fortunately, the Pan family villa was near the outer edge. He had not walked far before he reached it. The security guard looked a little surprised to see him return but said nothing, simply opening the gate and letting him inside.
Everything familiar closed around him again.
Zhong Yu took a deep breath and instinctively grew tense. Even his spine began to tremble faintly, but he still walked inside quickly.
The first floor was extremely quiet. Even the housekeeper was absent. Zhong Yu relaxed slightly, but before that breath had fully left him, he keenly sensed someone's gaze.
He lifted his head a beat too slowly and met Pan Wang's eyes. Pan Wang stood on the second floor, looking down at him from above.
The instant their gazes met, Pan Wang sneered and raised his hand, hurling something at him.
Zhong Yu wanted to dodge, but remembering his sister, whose condition he still did not know, he stopped where he was and watched the object scrape past his side, leaving a faint sting.
A second later, it struck the floor with a crack and broke into several pieces.
It was a transparent glass.
"Where the hell have you been fooling around for the last three days?"
Pan Wang stared at him darkly as he descended the stairs. He circled Zhong Yu several times and mocked with a sneer, "How many alphas played with you?"
Zhong Yu stood rigidly in place. His fingertips, hidden inside his sleeves, trembled faintly. He stared at Pan Wang without moving.
Pan Wang raised his brows high and circled Zhong Yu once more. Only after he had looked his fill did he casually give an answer. "You're the big brother, yet you spend all day fooling around outside. Naturally, she followed your example. Dear little brother, satisfied with that answer?"
That bastard brother of his had stayed away from home for three days and three nights, and when he finally came back, even his clothes had been changed by someone else.
Pan Wang could not tell which hospital the patient clothes came fromâand he did not care. This little waste ended up in the hospital every few days anyway. Other than spending his money, what else could he do?
After looking him up and down, Pan Wang's gaze finally settled on Zhong Yu's neck. His collar hid most of it, but a faintly suggestive mark still showed through.
Pan Wang naturally knew what it was. He had seen plenty.
But that trace suddenly made him realize why Zhou Hui had been making things difficult for him nonstop these past few days.
He found it unbelievable. "You're willing to let some other piece of trash play with you, but you won't spend a little time with Young Master Zhou? Is there something wrong with your brain?"
Pan Wang stepped forward twice and reached out to yank at Zhong Yu's clothes.
Just then, a middle-aged man's voice came from behind them.
"Xiaowang, what are you doing?"
It was Pan Youzhi's voice.
Pan Wang looked back. Under his father's disapproving gaze, he reluctantly let go, gave a cold snort, and turned to go upstairs.
Only then did Pan Youzhi look at his other son. His tone was still fairly mild. "Your brother is an alpha. His temper is bound to be a little explosive. Don't provoke him."
Zhong Yu had long since grown tired of hearing such words. He stared directly at Pan Youzhi and signed, asking whether he knew where Xiaoxiao was.
"What?" Pan Youzhi did not understand.
Two seconds later, Pan Youzhi finally realized that he seemed to be referring to his other child.
It could not be helped. Xiaowang was an alpha and would certainly inherit his business in the future. As for Zhong Yu, although he was only a beta, at least he had been born with a pretty face. With some packaging later, he ought to fetch a good price.
Counting it all up, only that daughter was unnecessary. She was not as good-looking as Zhong Yu, and her grades were not impressive enough for him to show off. She really had not inherited a single useful advantage.
Those were the thoughts in his head, yet his expression remained mild. "Hasn't she been with you these past two days?"
Zhong Yu closed his eyes weakly for a moment. Then he abruptly rose, walked past his own father, and headed straight outside.
Pan Youzhi frowned. "Where are you going?"
He did not look back, nor did he answer.
