TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 33

Seeing Yu Su not respond for a long while, Chi Yanxing frowned slightly.

“You don’t look so well. Didn’t you rest enough last night?”

Still dazed, Yu Su slowly raised his head. After a long moment, he murmured,

“Chi Yanxing…”

“What’s wrong?” The alpha set the bowl down and beckoned. “Come here, little fish — let me feel your forehead.”

Yu Su responded with a slow “oh,” then hesitantly propped himself up on the rim of the tank. While Chi Yanxing was checking him over, he said,

“I… I had a really strange dream last night.”

Chi Yanxing cooperated with a soft “oh”:

“What did you dream?”

Yu Su said slowly,

“I dreamed… I went to the seaside, and I met a human…”

The man’s movements paused for a second. Then, in a calm coaxing tone, he asked,

“And then?”

“Then… I got caught.”

Chi Yanxing’s brows furrowed tighter.

“Caught? Who caught you?”

Yu Su’s expression grew odd. He said slowly,

“If I didn’t see wrong… that person seemed to be you.”

Silence hung in the air for two seconds before Chi Yanxing spoke again.

“How could that be? I would never treat you that roughly.”

Yu Su nodded.

“That’s true. But the problem is, the ‘you’ in my dream wasn’t the present you.”

The mermaid rubbed his eyes and continued,

“It was the you I saw in the photo frame in your company’s rest room.”

Chi Yanxing thought for a moment. The photo in the lounge — if he remembered right, that was taken when he went to the seaside at thirteen.

He suddenly remembered that Yu Su had once mentioned dreaming about being at the seaside with him. So the alpha subconsciously softened his voice, trying not to disturb the mermaid who seemed to be recalling something.

“And after that? What did I do to you?”

“After that… that was it. I bit you hard — just like I did on the spiral staircase — and then I woke up.”

This time, Chi Yanxing was silent for a long while — long enough that the porridge lost its warmth.

“Yu Su, let me ask you again. Back then… did you really never go to the seaside?”

Yu Su thought carefully. The seaside… the seaside… He truly had no memory of ever going there.

Let alone coincidentally meeting Chi Yanxing.

And even if, by some miracle, he had snuck out — why couldn’t he remember any of it?

Maybe the adult merfolk erased Chi Yanxing’s memories — but what about his? Memory manipulation between the same species didn’t work. No mermaid had the power to make him forget as well.

Yu Su lifted a hand and rubbed his head.

“…Maybe it was just a nightmare.”

Chi Yanxing pressed his lips together. But Yu Su had sung to him, and afterward he had confronted Uncle He about it. His dreams had been so vivid that even the smallest pebble matched reality.

A bold guess slowly rose in the alpha’s heart.

Maybe…

“Yu Su, can you sing to yourself? I remember you once said… you’ve sung to yourself before.”

Yu Su’s mind jolted.

Sing… to himself?

Among merfolk, their songs usually had no effect on themselves — but in extreme circumstances, self-hypnosis wasn’t impossible.

He recalled the faint melody at the end of the dream.

So… whose mermaid song had that been?

Had it been sung by his younger self? Did he hypnotize himself?

Yu Su stared blankly, lost in thought. Had he gone to the seaside or not? Under what circumstances? Back then, he’d still been just a little fish living under his parents’ protection. His father would never have allowed him to cross the white coral boundary—

No.

No, that wasn’t right.

All at once he remembered the conversation from the dream with A Ning: his father had gone north for a few days — left in a hurry…

And what about his companion pearl? Yu Su suddenly remembered something else. Where was his merfolk companion pearl? Was it under the shell bed? Why couldn’t he recall at all?

Seeing the mermaid frowning so tightly, Chi Yanxing sighed and gently squeezed his fingertips.

“It’s okay. Don’t think too much. We’ll find another time, and you can sing for me again.”

The alpha figured his dreams were probably clearer than Yu Su’s — after all, he had already been thirteen, while Yu Su had been barely half that age. Truly still a child. After so many years, piecing memories together wouldn’t be easy.

Before, Chi Yanxing hadn’t known how to face this stretch of memory without Yu Su. But now, everything seemed open to question.

The big pearl he had cherished for so many years — and the little pearl he had felt so heartbroken over — might even have been the same one.

And their owner… might have shared the same name.

Chi Yanxing carefully lifted Yu Su from the tank and wrapped him in a large bath towel.

“Dry off first. In a few days I’ll take you to Wen Bei for a follow-up exam — check how your legs are healing, and we’ll also take a look at your glands and natural pheromones.”

This really should have been done earlier. Wen Bei had already reminded him a few days ago. And no matter how complicated the situation with their memories, health came first.

Yu Su answered blankly, his head poking out from the towel as Chi Yanxing carried him into the inner room.

Still a bit out of it, Yu Su was left at home, carefully looked after by Uncle He, who had been specifically instructed to take good care of the omega.

“Mr. Yu, lunch is ready—”

Yu Su nodded and absentmindedly swallowed a few strands of fish-soup ramen before suddenly asking, “Uncle He, do you know where Chi Yanxing put that big pearl?”

Uncle He shook his head. “I’m not sure. The master took the pearl himself. It never passed through anyone else’s hands.”

Yu Su felt a little disappointed.

Sigh. What was he thinking? Even if he got his hands on it, what use would it be? He had no memories of his companion pearl, nor any evidence proving that the pearl was actually his… unless Chi Yanxing remembered.

Or perhaps he could return to the sea and search through his shell bed.

But the problem was that, for various reasons, he couldn’t go back right now. He had become a human omega, and somehow, through a twist of fate, had even ended up living with a human.

During the more than half a month he spent in the swimming pool, Yu Su spent most of his time thinking about what it meant to be an omega. Eventually, he figured it out.

Chi Yanxing was an alpha, and most human alphas were destined to be with omegas, just like the male and female merfolk—

Combining what he felt in his heart with Chi Yanxing’s attitude toward him, Yu Su secretly concluded that if things continued like this, he probably wasn’t going to find himself a good fish partner. That left only Chi Yanxing, this good human.

Yu Su remembered the little treasure box he had brought back yesterday.

Because of the increasingly subtle relationship between the two of them, he had even begun considering something very important.

He wanted to use this matter as an opportunity to have a proper conversation with Chi Yanxing about their plans for the future. He also wanted to properly give the other man’s father a little lesson—

Yu Su regretfully slurped up a mouthful of noodles and thought: Why am I daydreaming for no reason? Why can’t things just be simple?

Couldn’t getting into a relationship be a little simpler?

Dealing with an incredibly clever alpha who wanted him to carry his baby was already the limit. And now there was this on top of it. Yu Yu’s little fish brain was really running out of room.

If only a big fish could come help him.

Unfortunately, his father was a recluse who disliked people, while his good friend A-Ning had long since become accustomed to his disappearing-act status. As for the elders of the sea, their whereabouts were scattered and difficult to track down.

Being a lone fish who came ashore was really hard…

Yu Su finished slurping down the little noodles, pushed his bowl forward, and suddenly called out, “Uncle He! Fill the swimming pool!”

The housekeeper, Uncle He, let out an “Ah?”

Yu Su continued, “I’m going in to wash my brain!”

Uncle He quickly understood and hurriedly replied, “Okay, okay.”

This time, Yu Su stayed in the water washing his brain for three or four days straight, refusing to come out no matter how much the alpha squatted beside the pool and tried to coax him.

“Yu Su, it’s already the weekend today. I made an appointment with Wen Bie to give you a physical examination. Come out, okay?”

Yu Su poked his head out from a distance. “We have to go today? What if Doctor Wen realizes I’m not human? Will he dissect me?”

Chi Yanxing was helpless. “What are you thinking? He won’t. Don’t be scared. Wen Bie isn’t that kind of omega.”

Yu Su blew a few bubbles with a gurgle. His tail swished beneath the water. “All right, then… I’ve spent the past two days thinking things over carefully underwater. I feel like a lot of things are vague and don’t seem like real memories, and right now I…”

Right now, he didn’t really want to return to the sea anymore, for various reasons.

The biggest reason was still this human alpha, Chi Yanxing.

“Ah, forget it. This path isn’t working for me. I’ll find some time to try rewinding your memories again. I’ll sing for longer this time. You have to really think hard about it, okay?”

Yu Su had already begun to vaguely sense that something was wrong. The reality he believed in seemed full of holes, while the supposedly illusory dreams somehow gave him a sense of reality.

The only problem was that everything seemed to be missing one crucial thread connecting it all together. Was he actually the little mermaid Chi Yanxing had encountered in the past? For now, it seemed that the only way to verify it was through Chi Yanxing’s perspective.

Three hours later, the two of them left the house by car.

Uncle He waved at them from behind as the luxurious villa disappeared into the rearview mirror.

Yu Su wasn’t familiar with the route to the hospital. He had only come this way once when he first came ashore, and had never traveled along this street again afterward.

Lately, Yu Su had no idea what Chi Yanxing was doing. He was always carrying around a tablet, and sometimes he would even sit there drawing and writing on it while eating. Yu Su had no idea what mysterious thing he was working on.

Yu Su propped his chin on his hand and sighed.

The alpha turned to look at him. “What’s wrong? Bored?”

He wasn’t actually bored. He was just feeling a little restless. Finding a good-looking and well-behaved partner was so difficult. Chi Yanxing was so good to him and so accommodating…

Yu Su didn’t want to say much, so he simply hummed in response.

The space beside him fell quiet for a while. A few minutes later, a tablet appeared in front of Yu Su.

It was the one Chi Yanxing often carried around.

“We still have half an hour before we arrive. I found you an ocean documentary. Watch it to pass the time.”

Yu Su tilted his head. On the screen was a beautiful illustration of a gigantic humpback whale, with a line of text beside it:

Blue Planet.

The mermaid’s attention was finally diverted somewhat. He extended his pink-and-white fingertip and tapped the screen. The video immediately expanded, and a blue panorama slowly unfolded before him. A whale gradually descended beneath the surface of the sea, looking incredibly beautiful.

But Yu Su: “…”

Seeing that something was wrong with Yu Su’s expression, Chi Yanxing asked, “What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?”

He had never watched this sort of thing himself. He had simply chosen this documentary because it ranked first and had the highest rating.

Yu Su said nothing. Human-made documentaries were damnably captivating. With just this one scene, it was already too late for him to close the screen.

He remained silent, quietly watching the tablet, completely engrossed in the documentary.

Chi Yanxing secretly breathed a sigh of relief, like someone who had finally managed to placate a child with candy.

Ten minutes later, Yu Su suddenly said, “Put up the partition.”

Chi Yanxing hesitated for a moment, but did as he was told.

Once the partition had been raised completely, Yu Su reached out and grabbed Chi Yanxing’s palm, then positioned it beneath his own chin and held it there.

“Catch them.”

Alpha: “？？？”

Before he could react, something had already landed in his palm. It was round and hard—a small pearl.

Chi Yanxing’s heart jolted. When he looked up, he saw Yu Su silently crying.

“…Yu Su?”

Yu Su pressed his lips together and gave a soft hum.

“What’s wrong?”

Yu Su spoke in a trembling voice. “The mother whale died, and the baby whale died too. They all died—”

“It’s so heartbreaking, wuwuwu.” The mermaid could no longer hold back his emotions. He simply let himself cry out loud, and before long, he was bawling like a beautiful whistling kettle.

Chi Yanxing: “…”

His gaze slowly shifted toward the screen, only to see two large words gradually appear in the subtitles beside it:

Whale Fall.

…

This was fucking ridiculous.

Who the hell had ranked a documentary like this number one?

Was this really something you were supposed to show a fish?

It was practically a horror movie equipped with tear-inducing ammunition. No wonder it had made Yu Su cry pearls.

Chi Yanxing was more than a little at a loss.

He pressed his lips together and said, “…Sorry. I should have read the synopsis before giving it to you.”

Yu Su continued sobbing like a whistling kettle.

Before long, his pearls had piled up in the alpha’s palm.

Having no choice, Chi Yanxing withdrew that hand and offered the other one instead.

There was no way to wipe away this kind of sadness with tissues. All he could do was catch the pearls and put them away.

By the time the car finally stopped in the hospital’s underground parking garage, Yu Su’s eyes were already noticeably red. Anyone could tell he had just had a very thorough crying session.

There were no ice packs in the car, only water. Chi Yanxing soaked some tissues with water and spent quite a while gently wiping Yu Su’s eyes.

The driver remained seated in the front. Since his boss hadn’t gotten out yet, he didn’t dare move.

Yu Su’s little throat trembled, and for a long while he could barely catch his breath.

“It’s so tragic. I once saw a whale carcass from far away on the ocean floor, and I instinctively swam around it…”

“I’m sorry.”

I didn’t take into consideration that you’re a fish.

“Next time I’ll run a big-data filter and remove everything related to fish from every computer.” Chi Yanxing took a glass jar he had prepared earlier from the back seat and put the two small handfuls of pearls inside with a series of little clinks.

“Shall we go upstairs? Okay? We’re almost out of time.”

Yu Su took two deep breaths, sniffled, and said, “Okay.”

Only after the two of them got out did the driver move the car forward and neatly park it in a parking space.

Chi Yanxing draped Yu Su’s little cape over his shoulders. “Ready to go up?”

Yu Su nodded slightly. “Mm. Let’s go.”

The two of them entered the elevator. Chi Yanxing held Yu Su’s hand with one hand and reached forward with the other to press the button to go up. Just as the elevator doors were about to close, he seemed to catch sight of a blue sports car parked beside their vehicle out of the corner of his eye.

But before he could get a good look, the elevator doors had already closed completely.

Chi Yanxing frowned.

Did Wen Bie have another appointment today?

–

Private Laboratory

“No!”

Another voice coaxed him, “All right, all right. If you don’t want to, then don’t. Dr. Wen, don’t be angry. Look what I brought you—”

Wen Bie said helplessly, “What kind of stunt are you pulling this time?”

Jian Rao Kong said with a smile, “I was busy the past few days and only had time today. It’s your birthday today. I originally wanted to ask you out to have some fun, but then you said you had to work overtime unexpectedly, so I had no choice but to bring your present here. I picked this out for you a while ago. It’s for you.”

Wen Bie’s eyes paused for a moment.

“…You really put some thought into it. Did you take AO Psychology as an elective in college?”

Jian Rao Kong: “…”

“I took Business Management. I never studied anything medical.”

Wen Bie stopped talking. After a few seconds, he said, “Thanks. I’ll open the present when I get home tonight. But I really do have something to do in a bit. Our boss is bringing his omega in for a physical examination.”

Since the other man had gone to the trouble of personally delivering the gift, Wen Bie felt that taking him out for dinner and spending some time with him was only right.

But his schedule today really was inconvenient.

Jian Rao Kong could either wait or leave for now.

Unexpectedly, the alpha standing opposite him asked, “Is it that omega named Yu Su?”

Wen Bie was retrieving some documents from the filing cabinet beside him. Upon hearing this, he turned around.

“How do you know?”

Jian Rao Kong answered naturally, “Everyone in our circle has been talking about it lately. You’re the only one who spends all day in the laboratory and hasn’t heard. President Chi is about to hold a banquet. Looks like he wants to officially bring his omega into the public eye.”

Wen Bie nodded. “That makes sense. Our boss absolutely dotes on his partner. The reason he didn’t make things public before was probably because of that little omega’s health.”

Jian Rao Kong’s tone changed slightly. “He… is his health really that bad?”

The papers in Wen Bie’s hand crumpled slightly.

“I noticed it the day we were at the company. You seem pretty concerned about our little boss’s wife, huh?”

Jian Rao Kong was both helpless and unsure how to explain himself. After all, he still hadn’t told Wen Bie his true identity.

“No… It’s just that I happened to run into President Chi at my family’s store that day. He was shopping with his omega, and I noticed that the little omega looked a lot like my younger brother, whom I haven’t seen in many years. I just couldn’t help asking about him.”

Just then, Wen Bie happened to notice the words suspected amnesia recorded in Yu Su’s medical file.

…

This young master said Yu Su looked like one of his relatives…

No way, right?

Wen Bie adjusted his glasses and said, “Stand a little closer to me.”

Jian Rao Kong obediently took two steps forward.

Dr. Wen’s sharp gaze swept from the corners of the alpha’s eyes to the bridge of his nose. Then he looked at the headshot of Yu Su in the file.

In the end, he reached a startling conclusion.

The two of them really did look somewhat alike.

Especially around the eyes. Aside from their differently colored irises, they were practically identical.

The longer Wen Bie stared, the more he shifted his nose slightly.

He had caught the scent coming from Jian Rao Kong.

“What kind of perfume did you spray?”

Jian Rao Kong smiled, his voice turning slightly husky. “I didn’t spray anything. I told you, I really like you. With you standing this close to me, Wen-ge, I couldn’t quite keep my pheromones under control.”

Wen Bie: “…”

Why was he calling him “ge” now? Did he really look that much older??

“Your pheromones seem to be…”

“Cedar.” Jian Rao Kong answered readily. “Did you just take an inhibitor, Wen-ge? Otherwise, how come I can’t smell your pheromones?”

Wen Bie cursed inwardly. Thank goodness I took the shot. Otherwise, if I went into heat right here, this would be quite a spectacle.

Besides, the scent of his pheromones…

“Knock, knock, knock.”

Wen Bie was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts and looked up. “Who is it?”

Chi Yanxing’s muffled voice came from outside the door. “It’s me. Do you still have any medical sugar candies here?”

Sugar candies?

Wen Bie was completely baffled. He took two steps forward and opened the door for his boss, only to see the little omega huddled behind him, his eyes red.

“…What happened? Did you fall somewhere?”

Yu Su said nothing. He simply clutched the corner of Chi Yanxing’s suit tightly with both hands, looking just as insecure as he had the last time he watched that mermaid cartoon.

Jian Rao Kong followed them over. His gaze first settled on Yu Su, and when he noticed that the omega seemed to have been crying, his eyes slowly shifted to Chi Yanxing.

His first question was, “What happened to him?”

As soon as he said this, all three people standing there turned their eyes toward him.

Chi Yanxing asked, “Why is Young Master Jian here?”

Yu Su also looked toward this handsome man who was born into a family with a fortune waiting for him to inherit.

Wen Bie, however, understood what Jian Rao Kong had just said. He guessed that the other man might have been reminded once again of his younger brother whom he hadn’t seen in many years.

“He came to give me a birthday present. Boss, come on in.”

Wen Bie stepped aside. Chi Yanxing no longer paid any attention to Jian Rao Kong and led the little fish, who still hadn’t quite recovered, in behind him.

“He cried after watching a documentary in the car just now. I remember you have sugar candies here. Give me a bag first.” Only then did Chi Yanxing answer their questions.

Yu Su was still muttering stubbornly, “A truly fierce fish doesn’t eat candy.”

One minute later.

The little fish’s cheeks were puffed out, a round object stretching his thin cheek from within.

Sweet. So sweet.

Three men were sitting opposite him, and all three were looking straight at him.

Wen Bie picked up a notebook and was the first to stand. “All right, Little Mr. Yu, let’s take a look at your legs first?”

Chi Yanxing frowned. “Wait.”

Wen Bie immediately understood. He tapped his forehead with the notebook. “I almost forgot. Young Master Jian, could you step outside for a moment? This is the patient’s private time.”

But Jian Rao Kong didn’t move. Instead, he said, “Little Mr. Yu’s condition looks very similar to that of a patient I’ve seen before. Maybe I can give you some advice on rehabilitation.”

Wen Bie: “？？？”

Chi Yanxing looked at Jian Rao Kong for several seconds, then glanced at Yu Su, who was happily sucking on his candy, and said, “The patient you saw… wouldn’t happen to have been your father, would he?”

Jian Rao Kong paused. “President Chi, how did you know?”

“I heard it from my father. He attended a few banquets with Chairman Jian years ago.”

Yeah, right.

Chi Yanxing had been keeping an eye on this family for quite some time. He had asked his assistant to collect all this information and these records in his spare time over the past few days. For someone like him, investigating things from the past that hadn’t been deliberately concealed was very easy.

Jian Rao Kong secretly glanced at Yu Su before finally admitting, “It was my father. He spent some time in a wheelchair years ago.”

Wen Bie chuckled from the side. “Well, what a coincidence.”

Yu Su looked from one person to another and finally became the spokesperson. “Ah, it’s fine. If Mr. Jian wants to stay here, then let him stay. It’s just a physical examination. We’re not taking our clothes off or anything, so there’s nothing to hide.”

Besides, looking at Dr. Wen’s romantic prospects could help distract him a little from his lingering sadness over the ocean documentary.

“Doctor Wen, shall we start? Chi Yanxing said we still need to check my glands later. There’s quite a lot left to do.”

Wen Bie glanced at his boss, who nodded at him.

“All right, then.”

As he spoke, Wen Bie walked over, crouched down halfway, and slowly lifted Yu Su’s leg.

Chi Yanxing rubbed his fingers slightly. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Wen Bie’s admirer was staring unblinkingly at his omega, with a barely perceptible tension in his expression.

Chi Yanxing narrowed his eyes, and his expression darkened.

During his investigation over the past few days, he had discovered that the entire Jian family was shrouded in mystery. Take Jian Rao Kong, for example. He had attended elite schools his entire life, yet he had never taken the swimming classes that were compulsory at those schools.

The reason given seemed to be some sort of fear of water.

…That hydrophobia was seriously bizarre. The residential developments in the area where the Jian family lived had once been one of their company’s projects. Every house had a thirty-meter swimming pool, and the designs had even directly referenced the specifications of the pool at his villa.

Not to mention that his two fathers disappeared for a period of time every year, and outsiders had absolutely no idea where the two of them went to “travel” each year.

Chi Yanxing thought about the event-reasoning chart he had built around Yu Su. He had a suspicion that wasn’t really a suspicion anymore.

Could it be that the Jian family was hiding a fish too?

But before he could think about it any further, he saw Wen Bie finish the examination and stand up.

“How is he?” Jian Rao Kong asked.

Even Wen Bie could sense how concerned this young alpha was about Yu Su. He raised an eyebrow. “You’re that worried about him?”

Just how much does this younger brother of his resemble him?

Fortunately, Wen Bie was considerate of his boss’s aloof and awkward personality. He immediately turned to Chi Yanxing and said, “His recovery is very good. Barring any future problems, he should basically be able to say goodbye to the wheelchair. And his complexion looks great too. There’s much more color in his face than when I first met him. Boss, you’re doing a pretty good job as an alpha.”

Chi Yanxing accepted the praise without hesitation and nodded. “I’ve never used inhibitors on him. It’s always been natural marking.”

“No wonder.” Wen Bie made a mark in his notebook. “When it comes to medication, the less you use, the better. It doesn’t do the human body much good.”

Even though Doctor Wen was gentle and good-looking, Yu Su still didn’t particularly want to stay here any longer. He had a constant feeling that he was about to be held down and given an injection at any moment. With the candy in his mouth, he hurriedly asked, “Isn’t it time to check the glands??”

The sooner they finished the examination, the sooner they could leave.

Wen Bie hummed and leaned down slightly, moving closer to Yu Su’s neck. “Lower your head. Let me check the development of your glands.”

Chi Yanxing shifted sideways, subtly blocking Jian Rao Kong’s line of sight. The latter was perceptive enough and made no further unusual moves.

Just as everyone had found their respective positions, Yu Su, standing at the center of the group, suddenly let out a puzzled hum.

Wen Bie was the closest and heard him most clearly. He casually asked, “What’s wrong? Did I press somewhere that hurts?”

Yu Su moved the candy in his mouth from one side to the other and swallowed a mouthful of sweetened saliva before saying, “Doctor Wen, you smell really good. Is it perfume? No, wait… this scent… it’s a little similar to my pheromones…”

They both had that cool, crisp kind of scent.

Wen Bie’s movements paused for a moment. He smiled and responded casually while completing Yu Su’s preliminary gland examination as though nothing was wrong. Then he gestured for Chi Yanxing to step aside and quietly asked, pretending to be discussing the patient’s information with a family member, “Would you mind if I draw some blood from your omega?”

Chi Yanxing’s expression tightened, and his domineering deep-sea pheromones quickly overwhelmed the faint, barely detectable cedar scent on Wen Bie. “What do you mean?”

Wen Bie said, “Boss, you told me in the information you provided that your omega’s pheromones are the rare scent of first snow, right?”

Chi Yanxing nodded.

Wen Bie continued, “Well, that’s quite a coincidence. Today, rounding up, I’ve also encountered another kind of ‘snow,’ so things are a little complicated right now. Based on what I’ve learned, some things may be full of uncertainty, but there is a genuine possibility of overlap. And as long as there’s even the slightest possibility, as a doctor, I have to seize the opportunity for my patient… If everything goes smoothly, the test results should be ready at the beginning of next month.”

Wen Bie wrote a few tiny words along the edge of his notebook. Chi Yanxing understood immediately after just one glance.

Kinship test.

He turned his head and glanced at Jian Rao Kong, who was still standing where he was. The latter was awkwardly and almost ingratiatingly pushing a glass of water on the table toward Yu Su. Chi Yanxing’s expression became complicated as he once again recalled his earlier suspicion that the Jian family might be hiding a fish. Then he suddenly realized that Jian Rao Kong’s other father seemed to have the surname Yu as well.

Yu Su was the last to find out that he was going to get an injection. He was so frightened that he stopped eating his candy altogether and immediately turned to Chi Yanxing. “Didn’t you say I only had to bite you once and I wouldn’t have to get a shot??”

Wen Bie comforted him with a half-true, half-false explanation. “This isn’t an inhibitor. I just want to check some potential data about your body. If we do it now, then if you want to have children in the future, you won’t need to undergo this particular test again.”

Yu Su: “…”

What children?

They hadn’t even gotten to first base, and Chi Yanxing hadn’t even met his parents yet!

“It’ll only be one shot.” The man walked over and covered Yu Su’s eyes with his hand. “It’ll be over in a few seconds.”

Jian Rao Kong was, strictly speaking, merely a peripheral figure who had happened to encounter them while they were having a medical examination. But the relationships between these people were simply too complicated. There was an eighty or ninety percent chance that Yu Su was his previously unknown younger cousin, and seeing the little omega’s face turn pale with fear left him feeling rather uncomfortable.

Half-mermaid or not, he was still essentially a mermaid, and his instinct to protect his own kind remained.

But his behavior just now had already been somewhat aggressive, so it really wasn’t appropriate for him to interfere too much.

After hesitating for a moment, Jian Rao Kong saw the little omega aggrievedly curl himself into the alpha’s arms, with the latter even covering his ears for him.

“…”

That scene was practically identical to the way his father took care of his dad, as though the person in question were a delicate glass vase that had to be carefully handled and protected at all times so it wouldn’t break.

He thought about his own plans and arrangements, and ultimately decided to keep quiet for now.

Things seemed to be quite different from what they had expected. For some reason, this suspected younger cousin of his seemed to depend on Chi Yanxing far more than he had imagined.

Wen Bie was practiced and incredibly fast. Sure enough, the injection was over within a few seconds.

Chi Yanxing slowly lowered his hand and casually rubbed Yu Su’s hair. “All right. It’s over.”

Yu Su responded with a few grumbling little noises and quietly indicated that he didn’t want to stay here anymore.

Wen Bie understood. “There aren’t any other examinations left, Mr. Yu. If you suffer through any more, I’m afraid I really won’t be able to keep up with your candy consumption.”

Yu Su became even more embarrassed when he heard that and secretly poked Chi Yanxing several times.

The alpha took the hint from his domesticated mermaid and immediately said goodbye. Before leaving, he also mentioned the tentative date of the upcoming banquet to the two of them.

Jian Rao Kong and Wen Bie stood at the examination-room door and watched silently. Only after Chi Yanxing carried Yu Su completely out of sight into the elevator did Wen Bie say, “Told you I wasn’t lying, right? These two are simply made for each other.”

Jian Rao Kong, who had always been dazzling and carefree, seemed unusually subdued. After remaining silent for a while, he finally composed himself and said, “That’s good… Let’s get cleaned up and go out to celebrate your birthday. Wen-ge, you’ve been busy for most of the day.”

Wen Bie turned his head and glanced at Jian Rao Kong. “Don’t rush. I just remembered something.”

“…What?”

“If I remember correctly, among all the high-ranking alphas in Haicheng, you’re the only one who hasn’t left your genetic information with me.” Wen Bie deliberately adopted a teasing tone. “Little bro, consider it your way of helping out your big brother’s charity work. You might as well let me draw a tube of your blood for the records while you’re here. Big brother will give you some candy.”

Although Jian Rao Kong was young, he was an alpha and also carried predator blood, so he was by no means short. He lowered his eyes toward Wen Bie, who was standing beside him, and played along. “Sure. Then I’ll give it to you, Wen-ge.”

The two stood side by side, but their thoughts were entirely different.

Wen Bie was thinking that perhaps he really could find the big boss’s beloved little omega some relatives—and, as a bonus, give Jian Rao Kong a precious little brother. But Jian Rao Kong, the alpha, was thinking much more deeply than that.

He was thinking…

The blood test would take about a week, while there were only five days left until the banquet at the beginning of next month.

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