TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 14

The butler picked up the watering can that had fallen in the garden and pushed the wheelchair under the eaves. Only after finishing these tasks did he leisurely sip from his teacup.

“Right on time.”

After savoring the tea, he stepped into the villa. The moment he entered, a strong presence of residual pheromones greeted him head-on. Although the butler couldn’t smell it, the oppressive aura was palpable.

“Sir, really… At least hold out until the bedroom.” Uncle He muttered as he opened the living room windows before heading to the kitchen to clean up.

While wiping the kitchen counter with paper towels, a sharp smell suddenly wafted up to his nose. “What’s this smell?”

Looking down, he discovered a green tube of cream lying on the countertop, seemingly discarded by someone. Holding it gingerly with a tissue, Uncle He sniffed it briefly before recoiling with a frown.

“Why is there wasabi here?”

Since opened items couldn’t return to the master’s dining table, Uncle He promptly consigned it—tube and all—to the trash can.

From tiny spatulas to pots and pans, cooking tools were scattered across the wide kitchen counter. In an unusually good mood, Uncle He cleaned up much faster than usual. Only when he reached the last bowl did he feel something hard underfoot, as if stepping on a small stone.

The meticulous butler bent down to pick up a smooth, round object.

“…A pearl? Why would there be a pearl in the kitchen?”

–

“Yu Su?” Chi Yanxing looked down at the omega nestled into his arms in a self-isolating posture. “Are you feeling uncomfortable?”

Yu Su mumbled for a while before replying, “So… this is what you meant by ‘bite,’ huh?”

Chi Yanxing found it amusing but didn’t show it. “What else did you think I meant?”

“I thought… you’d just take a small nibble…” Like a sashimi bite.

He had even prepared condiments for it, only to be caught red-handed.

“Eat?” Chi Yanxing nudged open the side bedroom door with his foot. “How could I eat you? This was just a temporary mark.”

The alpha’s words carried a double entendre.

Unfortunately, the clueless omega didn’t catch on. He simply muttered, “Oh,” paused for two seconds, and added, “Don’t laugh at me.”

Chi Yanxing raised a brow. “I’m not laughing.”

Yu Su pouted defiantly and lightly patted Chi Yanxing’s chest. “Your heart is racing so fast—don’t tell me you’re not holding back laughter.”

Chi Yanxing: “…”

“See? You’re speechless. Don’t think you can fool me. I know a lot more than you think.”

Chi Yanxing suddenly spoke. “If you’re so smart, why would you smear wasabi on your gland?”

Yu Su froze. “You—You found out?”

“Yes.” Chi Yanxing placed Yu Su on the low bed. “Don’t do that again.”

He had no desire to bite into an omega with a wasabi flavor.

Yu Su leaned against the headboard, watching as Chi Yanxing draped a light blanket over his legs. After some thought, he suddenly asked, “Chi Yanxing, how are you feeling now?”

Chi Yanxing paused before countering, “What about you?”

“Me? My neck hurts a bit, my body feels hot, and my waist is a little weak—”

“Stop!” The alpha interrupted with a headache. “You don’t need to describe it… so vividly.”

Yu Su clutched the blanket, kneading it like a kitten kneading a pillow. “So are you feeling the same—weak in the waist and legs?”

By now accustomed to being teased, Chi Yanxing maintained his composed expression. “No.”

He wasn’t the one marked, after all. As a strong, healthy alpha in a position of power, why would he feel weak in the waist or legs?

Ridiculous.

Yu Su wrinkled his nose. “Fine, if you say so. You’re so hard to please—always getting mad.”

Chi Yanxing hesitated. “Do I seem harsh to you?”

Yu Su: “Not too bad. But it’s okay; I’m not easy to deal with either.”

Chi Yanxing, who initially intended to leave and let Yu Su rest, ended up sitting down on the bed again.

He suddenly found himself interested in conversing with this omega. “You’re not easy to deal with?”

A snowflake that melted instantly upon contact, at most, brought a fleeting chill—hardly threatening.

“Of course. Don’t underestimate me,” Yu Su bared his small white teeth for emphasis. “For example, any wild little fish from outside—if I eat them, I won’t even spit out the bones. Believe it or not.”

Chi Yanxing: “…”

The alpha pressed down the corner of the blanket and cryptically replied, “There aren’t any wild fish. They’d be swept ashore by the tide and dried into fish jerky before they got close. Stop overthinking. Once I sort out things at the company in a few days, I’ll take you out.”

At first, Yu Su didn’t understand. But as Chi Yanxing continued, he caught on. “You mean I can go with you? That’s great!”

Chi Yanxing stood up and looked down at him. “Don’t get too excited. Everything depends on your health. If you so much as sneeze, you’re staying home.”

Yu Su nodded enthusiastically like a woodpecker. “Don’t worry. With our agreement, having me with you makes things easier, right? Anytime, anywhere—bite me whenever you want, as long as you take me along. Hey—Chi Yanxing, don’t go! I’m not finished talking!”

His words were cut off by the sound of the door closing with a decisive click. Yu Su puffed his cheeks and raised his voice toward the door.

“Fine, but if you don’t take me out, send me back to the ocean!”

Then, a loud bang came from the door next door.

Yu Su: “…”

Cold, aloof weirdo. Go chew on your little wild fish!

Yu Su sulked in bed for a while. The peculiar sensation at the back of his neck refused to be ignored. Without a mirror at hand, he could only stretch back and lightly touch the area.

“Hiss—who would’ve thought? Human teeth are pretty sharp.”

There seemed to be a lingering salty tang in his hair. Yu Su turned his head and rubbed it against the pillow. “What does an omega’s gland even look like?”

This thought kept him tossing and turning. It must look extraordinary if it could make that man bite down without even bothering to go upstairs.

“No, I have to check.”

Yu Su sat up in bed, only to realize his wheelchair hadn’t been brought up. Helpless, he dangled his legs over the edge of the bed.

The bed, designed for special needs, was only about a few dozen centimeters high—barely the height of a shin. This was just enough for Yu Su’s toes to touch the floor.

He brushed his toes against the soft carpet, and suddenly a tickling sensation spread from his soles.

Yu Su paused, lowering his legs further. This time, the sensation was even more pronounced.

When his feet finally pressed fully against the carpet, it felt like a faint electric current ran up from his toes.

“No way…” Yu Su held his breath nervously, propping himself up on his arms. Slowly, his hips left the bed.

Without holding onto anything, for the first time, he managed to stand entirely on his own.

–

“Collaborating with Jian Medical is crucial for the development of this new suppressant. They provide the materials, and we handle the technology,” Chi Yanxing said while on the phone in his second-floor study.

“They recently appointed a new heir, right? Young people have more common ground. Take Wen Bie with you during negotiations and let the professionals do a second evaluation.”

“Jian Rao Kong just graduated. Wen Bie, with his ten years of experience in society, can easily handle him.”

Chi Yanxing tapped his pen against the desk. “…Alpha status? Don’t worry about that; he’ll go. That’s it for now.”

As soon as he hung up the work call, there was a knock on the study door. Chi Yanxing casually responded and saw the butler walking in with a tray of water.

“Sir.”

Chi Yanxing nodded. “Thanks, Uncle He. Just leave it there.”

The butler smiled. “You haven’t looked this relaxed in ages. Meeting Mr. Yu is truly a blessing for us all. If the master and madam knew, they’d be thrilled.”

It was a pity that the two retirees were off traveling the world, only checking in once every few months.

Having worked in the Chi family since he was young, Uncle He had watched Chi Yanxing grow up. He sighed, “When you first differentiated, the master gifted you a seaside villa to commemorate it. None of us expected how difficult your pheromones would be to manage…”

That difficulty had driven the already aloof Chi Yanxing into a long period of self-imposed isolation, as no one dared get close to him.

“But now it’s all good. With Mr. Yu here, every problem will be resolved perfectly,” the butler said with gratitude in his tone.

Chi Yanxing listened in silence before replying, “What made you suddenly think of the past?”

The butler sighed again. “Because I found this in the kitchen.”

The kitchen? That was where he and Yu Su had just been.

Chi Yanxing watched as Uncle He placed a small object on the desk.

“Sir, do you remember the large pearl you brought back from your first visit to the seaside villa?”

Looking at the tiny pearl, Chi Yanxing paused. “I remember.”

Of course, he remembered. It had been his favorite childhood keepsake, still carefully preserved on a shelf in this very study.

“You played by the sea for days and brought back a large pearl on the last day. We were all amazed. The madam even asked where you found it, but you said you couldn’t remember,” the butler recalled fondly. “But a pearl that large? Usually, fishing boats would have to venture into deep seas to retrieve one.”

Chi Yanxing’s expression shifted slightly, his mind drifting back to his younger self.

The butler gazed at the tiny, lustrous pearl. “It became quite the mystery back then. Thinking about it now, maybe it was washed ashore by the tide.”

Chi Yanxing’s memories flooded back as though a locked box had suddenly been opened. But… it wasn’t like that. On that day, the sea was calm, without a single wave. There was no tide—only… only…

Suddenly, he pressed his hand to his forehead, a childlike voice echoing faintly in his mind—dreamlike and distant.

“Your name’s Chi Yanxing? You look older than me, so I’ll call you Yanxing-gege, okay? Yanxing-gege… Yanxing-gege? You’re so handsome! Play with me! Little Fish wants to play with you!”

Little Fish… who was that? The pearl…

Chi Yanxing frowned deeply, his head buzzing with fragmented noise.

Uncle He waved a hand in front of him in concern. “Sir? Sir?”

But the butler’s voice failed to snap him out of it. That is, until a piercing alarm shattered the silence—

“Beep—! Attention, ridiculously handsome CEO! Your omega is in trouble!”

Chi Yanxing shot to his feet.

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