Chapter 17
June’s rainy season hadn’t stopped since the day the college entrance exams ended.
Dark clouds covered the sky, the rain continuous, everything damp.
The rainy season was long and oppressive, the air filled with a musty smell.
The constant patter of rain outside made one feel sluggish, wanting to burrow under the covers and take a nap.
Since the exams ended, Yan Weiqiu had become lethargic. His three-year-old biological clock seemed to have disappeared. No matter what time he went to bed, he always slept until noon.
Because it had been raining recently, Yan Weiqiu didn’t plan on going out, choosing to laze around at home.
At first, Fang Xiu thought he was just exhausted from the stress of his senior year, from studying hard and staying up late. Now that he finally had a break, he was just catching up on sleep.
But sleeping all day, every day, was strange.
Yan Weiqiu, drowsy, yawned. “I just stayed up too late for too long; I’m a bit weak. Just leave me alone.”
The bedroom door slammed shut.
Fang Xiu knocked on the door and called out, “Xiaobai is coming over to see you this afternoon.”
Yan Weiqiu muttered, “Tell him not to come. It’s still raining. Going out in the rain is such a hassle.”
Fang Xiu opened the door again, looking at Yan Weiqiu, who was curled up in bed like a caterpillar, and said helplessly, “Don’t stay cooped up in your room all day; you’ll get sick.”
If Yan Weiqiu was playing video games or watching movies in his room, Fang Xiu wouldn’t be so worried, but he just ate and slept, slept and ate, making her very concerned.
“Why don’t I take you to the hospital?”
“Is there such a thing as hypersomnia? Let’s get it checked out. Early diagnosis, early treatment.”
Yan Weiqiu: “…”
Yan Weiqiu: “Mom, remember to close the door when you leave. I’m going to sleep.”
Fang Xiu chuckled. “I feel like I’m raising a piglet.”
“That’s a huge difference.” Yan Weiqiu’s muffled voice came from under the covers. “Pigs aren’t as handsome or as smart as me.”
Fang Xiu gave up persuading him and said helplessly, “I made some soup. Remember to drink it when you get up.”
“Mm, I know.” Yan Weiqiu responded perfunctorily.
At one o’clock in the afternoon, Jiang Yuebai knocked on his door.
Yan Weiqiu rolled over in bed, pulling the covers tighter, pretending not to hear.
Jiang Yuebai gently opened the door.
Because of the rain, the room was much darker than usual, and there was a faint sweet scent, stronger than the usual scent of shower gel.
Yan Weiqiu was curled up in the corner of the bed, sleeping soundly.
Jiang Yuebai crouched by the bed, quietly staring at his flushed sleeping face for a long time.
After the college entrance exams, Yan Weiqiu had been staying at home every day, barely replying to messages. It was hard to even see him, let alone talk to him.
“Are you sick?”
Jiang Yuebai’s voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. He carefully touched Yan Weiqiu’s cheek, feeling his temperature.
The cool touch startled Yan Weiqiu awake.
“Why are you here?”
Yan Weiqiu rubbed his tired eyes and was startled to see the figure crouching before him.
“Why aren’t the lights on?” Yan Weiqiu muttered softly, fumbling for the bedside lamp.
Jiang Yuebai: “I didn’t want to disturb your sleep.”
Yan Weiqiu glanced at him and snorted. “But you still woke me up.”
“Mm, my bad.”
“I bought you fried chicken and cola.”
“Do you want to get up and eat? Or do you want to keep sleeping?”
Jiang Yuebai coaxed him by the bed.
Yan Weiqiu lay on his stomach, running a hand through his messy hair, and sighed. “I wish my mom was like you.”
Jiang Yuebai smiled faintly. “What’s wrong with Auntie Xiu?”
“Mmm.” Yan Weiqiu’s eyes were full of accusation. “She won’t let me sleep. She keeps telling me to get up and go out for a walk. It’s been raining every day, how can I go out? Then she said I could walk around the house. I just can’t reason with her.”
“Are you very tired?” Jiang Yuebai wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but Yan Weiqiu seemed much weaker since the college entrance exams, his complexion pale.
“Not really tired, maybe it’s just the rainy weather. Sleeping in bed is just perfect for this kind of weather.” Yan Weiqiu stretched and finally got out of bed after struggling for a while. He hadn’t had fried chicken in a long time.
Jiang Yuebai suggested, “Want to watch a movie?”
“Of course.” Yan Weiqiu nodded. This kind of rainy weather, with the overcast sky, was perfect for a movie. Add in fried chicken and a bottle of iced cola, curled up on the sofa… this kind of lazy afternoon was his ideal life.
Jiang Yuebai picked out a few recent popular movies and said jokingly, “Want to watch ‘Rainy Night Murderer’? Or ‘The Tag-Along’? Or do you have anything else in mind?”
Yan Weiqiu, a french fry dangling from his lips, lightly kicked him and snatched the remote. “Will you stay and keep me company after the movie?”
Jiang Yuebai chuckled softly and said, “If you’d like.”
Yan Weiqiu pretended not to hear and turned away, his face flushing crimson.
The movie was a recent romantic comedy about two high school students who fall in love during university, from a secret crush to a relationship.
The protagonist’s unrequited love resonated with Yan Weiqiu, and he glanced at Jiang Yuebai.
“What about you, what does your pheromone smell like?”
They had never talked about Jiang Yuebai’s pheromones since they presented, as if they had both tacitly avoided the topic.
“I also want to smell you.”
Jiang Yuebai froze. He had never heard such suggestive words from Yan Weiqiu before.
Perhaps he had just said it unconsciously. After all, he was a Beta and didn’t know how suggestive those words were to Alphas and Omegas.
Sensing Jiang Yuebai’s stiffness, Yan Weiqiu raised an eyebrow, deliberately moving closer to him, and asked innocently, “What’s wrong? I just wanted to know what your pheromones smell like.”
Jiang Yuebai stiffly created some distance between them and forced a smile. “It doesn’t smell good.”
“Is it some kind of weird smell?” Yan Weiqiu looked at him curiously, then suddenly laughed. “Don’t tell me it smells like luosifen? Or stinky tofu?”
Jiang Yuebai paused, then smiled faintly. “Maybe like scholar trees.”
“Then what does it actually smell like?”
“The Omega who likes you shouldn’t care if it’s a weird smell, right?”
“Is it really luosifen?”
Jiang Yuebai shook his head. “If, in the heat of the moment, an Alpha and Omega release their pheromones, and suddenly they smell pickled bamboo shoots, wouldn’t that ruin the mood?”
Yan Weiqiu imagined the scene Jiang Yuebai described and couldn’t help but laugh. “I guess so.”
They unconsciously created some distance between them again, and Jiang Yuebai’s tightly pursed lips relaxed slightly.
The closer Yan Weiqiu got, the stronger his urge to pull him into his arms became.
That sweet scent in the air became even more cloying and alluring.
The movie was long, and after eating and drinking his fill, Yan Weiqiu felt sleepy.
He leaned against the corner of the sofa, dozing off several times, only to be woken up by the arguments between the movie’s protagonists.
Jiang Yuebai washed his face with cold water several times in the bathroom, finally suppressing the heat in his body. When he came out, Yan Weiqiu was already asleep on the sofa, a french fry still clutched in his hand.
So cute.
Jiang Yuebai tiptoed over to him and sighed silently.
What was wrong with Xiaoqiu lately?
The movie wasn’t over yet. Jiang Yuebai carefully lifted Yan Weiqiu from the sofa and carried him back to his room.
As soon as he touched the bed, Yan Weiqiu instinctively hugged the teddy bear.
Seeing this, Jiang Yuebai’s expression turned gloomy.
If only Yan Weiqiu would instinctively hug him like that.
…
…
On the fifth day of vacation, the rain finally stopped.
The dark clouds gradually dispersed, the weather turning clear, the air filled with the fragrance of earth and the fresh scent of grass and trees.
Fang Xiu knocked on Yan Weiqiu’s door early in the morning.
“Mom, it’s still early.”
Hearing his voice, Fang Xiu pushed the door open, turned off the bedside lamp, opened the curtains, and opened the window for ventilation.
The bright sunlight made Yan Weiqiu uncomfortable.
His head felt heavy. He was about to get up when a sharp pain shot through him, and he clutched his head, falling back onto the bed.
Fang Xiu was about to pull back his covers and make him get up when she saw him clutching his head, his face an unnatural shade of red, his lips pale, his expression pained. She was so scared that she immediately rushed him to the hospital.
On the way to the hospital, Fang Xiu touched his face and asked worriedly, “Xiaoqiu, are you feeling very unwell?”
Yan Weiqiu felt like his body wasn’t his own, hot and cold at the same time, the skin on his nape burning and stinging.
He eventually lost consciousness.
The doctor examined him, frowning slightly at the test results. “Although he’s a Beta, his gidh levels are much higher than that of an average Beta, suggesting a possible secondary differentiation.”
Fang Xiu’s heart eased slightly. As long as it wasn’t a serious illness, it was fine. But the words “secondary differentiation” stunned her. She mechanically repeated the doctor’s words, “Secondary differentiation?”
The doctor nodded and explained, “But it’s also possible that he’ll remain a Beta. It’s still uncertain.”
Fang Xiu nodded. “Thank you, doctor.”
Yan Weiqiu was unconscious for a while, and Fang Xiu sat by his bed, keeping him company.
When he woke up, she poured him a glass of warm water.
“How are you feeling? Are you still uncomfortable?” Fang Xiu looked at him heartfeltly, helping him sit up.
Her child had been unwell for so many days, and she had been so careless, not even noticing.
Yan Weiqiu looked at the white walls, the white sheets, the medical equipment by the bed, and smelled the familiar, pungent scent of disinfectant. He knew he was in the hospital.
“Why am I in the hospital?”
Fang Xiu: “The reason you’ve been so sleepy lately is because your gidh levels are unstable. The doctor said you might be undergoing secondary differentiation.”
Yan Weiqiu’s eyes widened in shock, and he murmured, “Secondary differentiation?”
Fang Xiu nodded. “The doctor said it’s only a possibility. We’ll know for sure after your follow-up appointment next week.”
Yan Weiqiu didn’t understand. His face turned even paler than before, and he asked agitatedly, “But why are my gidh levels unstable? Why would I undergo secondary differentiation?”
Fang Xiu hesitated, then said, “The doctor said that if a Beta spends a prolonged period of time with an Alpha, they can be affected by the Alpha’s pheromones, which can trigger secondary differentiation.”
Yan Weiqiu understood, and he also understood his mother’s hesitation.
It was because of Xiaobai.
They had been together for so many years since they presented, and he had always been influenced by him.
Fang Xiu looked at his pale face with concern. “Are you used to being a Beta and don’t want to undergo secondary differentiation?”
Yan Weiqiu nodded slightly and begged her not to tell Xiaobai.
Fang Xiu: “If you differentiate into an Omega, and Xiaobai is an Alpha, wouldn’t that be a good thing? You could help each other during ruts and heats.”
At the mention of ruts and heats, Yan Weiqiu bit his lip hard.
Yes, he had once fantasized about being an Omega.
But then he learned that Xiaobai didn’t like Omegas.
Xiaobai was very resistant to Omegas and hated being controlled by pheromones. He hated his ruts.
If he found out that he had differentiated into an Omega, what would Xiaobai think?
Fang Xiu was waiting for his answer, so Yan Weiqiu just said casually, “What if I differentiate into an Alpha?”
Fang Xiu choked.
Although she felt that her child didn’t look like an Alpha at all, differentiation wasn’t something they could control.
Fang Xiu: “But Xiaoqiu, people who truly love each other don’t care about secondary genders.”
It wasn’t that there weren’t Alphas who chose Alphas as partners, but such cases were rare.
Alphas and Alphas were naturally repelled by each other’s pheromones.
Like two wild beasts, they would fight to the death for territory, never willingly giving up their domain.
Yan Weiqiu said softly, “It would be very difficult. Whether I’m an Alpha or a Beta, it would be very painful for Xiaobai to be with me.”
And an Omega.
But he didn’t say it out loud.
Fang Xiu sighed and agreed to keep it a secret, but she still tried to persuade him. “You’re in a relationship; you can’t hide this for long. You’ll have to tell Xiaobai eventually.”
Yan Weiqiu lowered his eyes, his voice strained. “Actually, Xiaobai and I aren’t dating.”
Fang Xiu: “What?”
Yan Weiqiu looked out the window, his voice soft, tinged with sadness. “When Xiaobai had his first rut, I realized that because of my secondary gender, I couldn’t help him at all. He’s better off with an Omega, so he can be more comfortable during his ruts.”
“That’s not true.” Fang Xiu held his hand, trying to comfort him. “There are many Alphas in the world who choose to build families with Betas. They know about ruts. Medical technology is very advanced now; Alphas can go to the hospital for pheromone matching and get Omega pheromone extracts to alleviate their ruts.”
“But Mom.”
“Xiaobai has been with me since he was little. He rarely interacts with other people besides me. But Haicheng is small, unlike a bustling metropolis like A City. He’ll meet all kinds of people in the future, and maybe he’ll even meet his destined mate.”
“What if he meets someone more suitable for him than me?”
Fang Xiu was silent for a long time.
Then she suddenly chuckled, her laughter growing louder and more unrestrained.
“Xiaoqiu, you’re overthinking it.”
“You’re still young; you don’t understand Alphas. Don’t try to understand them with your limited knowledge.”
“Just like I think you’ve never truly understood Xiaobai.”
Yan Weiqiu looked at her, puzzled.
Fang Xiu patted his head, smiling. “Some things need to be taken one step at a time.”
