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If Qi Zhao accompanied Qi Wei for his checkup, it would indeed affect the results, so he waited in the lounge.
This time, Qi Zhao took the initiative, teasing him, “Are you going to mark your territory with pheromones again?”
Qi Wei knew he was joking, but he still couldn’t help but ask seriously, “Is that okay?”
Qi Zhao: “…”
He was speechless. “Don’t you already…”
…know that he was real, that he would always be there for him?
Qi Wei held Qi Zhao’s hand and whispered, “This is different.”
Qi Zhao didn’t understand the difference, so he said helplessly, “You’re like Sun Wukong, drawing a circle around his master’s feet and telling him not to leave… Fine, do as you please.”
He wasn’t angry, and Qi Wei knew it, so he smiled and kissed the back of his hand, restraining himself. “Then please wait for a moment, Master. Your disciple will be back soon.”
Qi Zhao chuckled and ruffled his hair, genuinely enjoying the feel of it.
Qi Wei’s hair was coarse, the touch distinct, more satisfying than petting a dog.
Qi Wei, as usual, marked his territory with pheromones before leaving for his checkup.
Qi Zhao sat down in the lounge and yawned sleepily.
He and Qi Wei had stayed up late last night, and although he should have slept well, he had been worried about Qi Wei’s condition and hadn’t been able to fall into a deep sleep.
Now, having arrived at the research institute, he finally relaxed, and his sleepiness overwhelmed him.
So when Qi Wei finished his checkup and came looking for Qi Zhao with the relatively good results, he found him asleep on the sofa.
He knew Qi Zhao hadn’t slept well last night; since he didn’t need much sleep, he could sense the difference in Qi Zhao’s breathing and heartbeat.
Qi Zhao had tossed and turned last night, his sleep restless.
He knew the reason, so he didn’t ask.
Qi Wei placed the report on the table and reached out to pick Qi Zhao up, but the moment he touched him, Qi Zhao stirred, turning over and rolling into his arms, half-leaning against him.
Thankfully, Qi Wei was strong enough to catch him.
He held Qi Zhao securely, pulling him closer as he stood up, effortlessly lifting him into his arms.
Qi Zhao didn’t even bother to put his arms around Qi Wei’s neck, just asking, “How was it?”
Qi Wei lowered his head and kissed his forehead. “Much better. I brought the report; do you want to see it?”
Qi Zhao shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t understand it anyway.”
He gestured to Qi Wei. “Did Teacher Wu and the others say anything?”
Qi Wei sat down, letting Qi Zhao sit sideways on his lap. “If we maintain this momentum, you’ll recover soon.”
Qi Zhao didn’t believe such a serious problem could be resolved so easily. He opened his eyes and looked at Qi Wei. “Really?”
Qi Wei nodded. “Really. Pheromone dysregulation is serious, but once it starts to improve, it’ll be quick. Just… some issues are still unavoidable.”
Qi Zhao was instantly alert. “What issues?”
Qi Wei paused slightly. “…Ah Zhao, I have some psychological issues caused by the pheromone dysregulation, and those might take a while to heal.”
Qi Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and hugged him. “Those don’t matter.”
He paused, his voice slightly hoarse. “I’m just afraid… afraid that one day you’ll also… like my mother…”
Withering away from a genetic defect, until she could no longer open her eyes, no longer call his name.
“That won’t happen,” Qi Wei placed his hand on Qi Zhao’s back, his large palm a comforting weight, “Ah Zhao, I won’t let you face that kind of helplessness again.”
Even a hundred years from now, he would hold on, be the last one to die.
Because he knew that for Qi Zhao, watching An Xinzhi take her last breath in the hospital room had been a traumatic experience.
He wouldn’t let Qi Zhao go through that again.
Before, when they weren’t so entangled, even if he died, it wouldn’t affect Qi Zhao that much.
But now, since they had become each other’s most important person, he wouldn’t be so pessimistic.
Qi Wei cupped Qi Zhao’s face in his hands, kissing him gently, then lifting his chin to lick away the moisture from his eyelashes.
His heart softened, a warm ache spreading through him, the salty wetness like fire, burning his heart into a soft, molten mess.
Qi Wei’s breathing deepened slightly. He knew that Qi Zhao always tried to appear strong, that when faced with something painful or upsetting, his mind would instinctively avoid it to protect himself, but there would always be a breaking point.
So the calmer Qi Zhao seemed, as if he was just dealing with something that annoyed him… it was because his nerves were stretched taut.
The moment he relaxed, it would be like a snapped string.
If no one comforted him, soothed him, he could endure it, burying his emotions, processing them on his own.
But if someone cared, it would be different.
Qi Zhao, who rarely cried, couldn’t help but shed tears under Qi Wei’s gentle kisses, his tear ducts, dormant for so many years, suddenly overflowing, his nose stuffy, his throat tight, unable to speak.
He buried his face in Qi Wei’s embrace, his tears dampening his shirt, his voice choked with emotion. “I’m truly scared…”
Ever since he vaguely suspected that Qi Wei’s condition might be more serious than he let on, he hadn’t been able to relax.
Whenever his mind wasn’t occupied, he would start thinking about Qi Wei’s illness, his condition. And unable to calm down, he kept recalling An Xinzhi’s illness.
He was still young at the time, his memories fragmented, but because of Qi Wei, he remembered everything.
He remembered An Xinzhi’s gaunt face, her dull eyes, her weak voice, her last words, clutching his hand, “Ah Zhao…” trailing off.
He still didn’t know what she had wanted to say.
Qi Wei hugged Qi Zhao tighter, patting his back, trying to comfort him. “Ah Zhao, it’s okay, trust me, I’ll be fine.”
Qi Zhao sniffled. “You… you’re not allowed to extract your pheromones for me anymore.”
Qi Wei paused.
He didn’t immediately agree, and Qi Zhao looked up at him, his red-rimmed eyes still watery. “Qi Wei, did you hear me?”
Qi Wei lowered his voice, trying to reason with him, “Ah Zhao, you need the pheromones to disguise yourself…”
“I won’t be an alpha anymore,” Qi Zhao interrupted him without hesitation, “I’m a beta, it was just… a foolish obsession… I’ve told you, since returning to Z Country, besides using your pheromones to suppress Qi Mu and vent my resentment, there’s no real difference.”
When you reached a certain level of competence, no one cared whether you were an alpha, beta, or omega.
And… Qi Zhao’s previous obsession with his secondary gender stemmed from his constant arguments with Qi Mu, which always revolved around the alpha-beta divide.
Qi Mu was right; some alphas did take advantage of betas’ inability to sense pheromones, teasing and manipulating them.
But Qi Zhao was also right; to prevent pheromone attacks, all he needed was an alpha assistant. With an alpha by his side, there was no need to worry about this problem.
But Qi Mu refused to accept his idea, because he was a firm believer in the secondary gender hierarchy, and as an alpha, he benefited from it, so naturally, he thought no alpha would willingly be subservient.
Because of him, Qi Zhao had also thought this way for a long time.
Then Qi Wei proved him wrong with his actions.
He was an alpha, a super S-rank alpha, yet he sincerely wanted to be Qi Zhao’s assistant, following behind him, even changing himself to be more like Qi Zhao.
Being an alpha… was just a gender.
Qi Zhao took a deep breath, hugging Qi Wei’s neck tightly, and whispered, “Just… it’ll be troublesome to change it back, right?”
He wasn’t referring to the process of changing his designation, but how to explain it to the public.
Qi Wei lowered his voice. “That’s easy.”
He rubbed the back of Qi Zhao’s head and continued slowly, “I anticipated this, so I told Yang Shou earlier, and he said it’s simple. They’re currently cracking down on the black market trade of alphas and omegas, forcing them into reproductive experiments. We can say that you underwent a secondary differentiation into an A-rank alpha, to lure them out.”
Qi Zhao sensed something. “…And he did use this, didn’t he?”
Qi Wei smiled, not surprised that he had guessed it. “Yes.”
He said, “Actually, the genes of alphas and omegas who undergo secondary differentiation are slightly different from those who differentiate directly. True betas can’t undergo secondary differentiation, but there’s an organization on the black market that’s researching how to make betas differentiate into alphas. If we publicize your case, they’ll target you.”
But Qi Wei had agreed to this collaboration because he knew Yang Shou would assign plenty of people to protect him, and he himself would personally escort Qi Zhao to and from work every day. Qi Zhao’s life was predictable; there was no need to worry.
Qi Zhao knew this, so he was curious. “With such tight security around me, did you catch anyone?”
“No matter how tight the security, those lunatics would still make a move if they’re interested in you.”
Qi Wei lowered his voice. “Ming Jingsong found some leads last month. If everything goes as planned, we’ll be raiding their base before the new year.”
But this kind of thing, like robbery and murder, was like weeds, constantly resurfacing.
They could only eliminate them one batch at a time.
“I’ve always wondered,” Qi Zhao said, “although I’ve heard about this kind of trade before, I don’t understand why.”
“…Because of genetic and pharmaceutical experiments,” Qi Wei softened his voice and gently caressed Qi Zhao’s neck. “Ah Zhao, haven’t you noticed? The wounds I leave on you are deep, but after I lick them, your blood clots faster, and the wounds seem to heal more quickly.”
He said, “There are people on the black market who believe that an alpha’s strong genes, combined with certain drugs, can be used to develop new medicines to cure currently incurable diseases.”
“But the results of these experiments have always been disastrous… Because of my unstable condition after differentiating, I haven’t participated in any raids.”
Qi Wei lowered his voice. “But Yan Shuang and Pei Lechuan have. They told me about the illegal labs they raided, the people subjected to human experimentation… they were like zombies in movies, terrifying. And some people want to create an army of alphas and omegas, like terrorists; and… there are even those who believe they can create an ‘elixir of immortality’ from alphas.”
Qi Zhao’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Are they crazy?”
Qi Wei said, “Yes. And there are many such illegal organizations abroad as well.”
He paused, then seemed to remember something, taking a deep breath and burying his face in Qi Zhao’s embrace. “That’s why I’ve always been worried about you, scared.”
Even though he had arranged for so many people to protect him, and had even contacted Pei Lechuan, who was in charge of overseas matters, he still worried every night that Qi Zhao might accidentally encounter those people…
Qi Zhao was indeed just a beta, but he had also been in the news many times.
More importantly, Qi Wei was afraid those people would see Qi Zhao as a suitable test subject.
After all, everyone had believed he would differentiate into an alpha.
Qi Zhao pursed his lips. “You should be more worried about yourself. If it’s truly like what you said, then they’ll definitely target you.”
He was the only super S-rank alpha, after all.
“It’s fine,” Qi Wei smiled, “they know I’m strong, so they wouldn’t dare approach me.”
Qi Zhao paused, sensing something. “…Qi Wei, have you… already dealt with them before?”
