It was quiet for a while. Then Xu Zhiyuan started tugging at him again, pulling him towards the door. He followed the man outside. Xu Zhiyuan fumbled with the door lock, then looked at Shen Qiuxun’s pocket, his face on the verge of tears again.
“…” Shen Qiuxun thought it over carefully and asked, “You don’t… want to learn how to pick a lock, do you?”
Xu Zhiyuan’s eyes lit up. He hugged Shen Qiuxun from behind, rubbing against the nape of his neck, like a happy dog in a frenzy of joy.
Shen Qiuxun struggled to push his head away. He gave his dog-like paw a sharp slap and put the wire into his hand. “Learn.”
So the two of them stood there, opening and closing the lock over and over again. Lock, unlock. Lock, unlock.
“Idiot.” Unable to bear it any longer, Shen Qiuxun cursed. He grabbed the man’s hand and, leaning down, guided him in exploring the keyhole with the wire:
“Here, there’s a notch. You push it in, then feel for this catch. Do you feel it?”
Xu Zhiyuan nodded, his eyes bright. His gaze swept from the bridge of Shen Qiuxun’s nose to its delicate tip, then to the round curve of his lips. He swallowed.
“Then lift this catch…” The last time Shen Qiuxun had been this patient was when he was tutoring a Young Master for 500 an hour. Realizing he was currently doing it for free, his face was wooden and his attitude vicious.
Yet, this certain someone was incredibly happy. Finally getting the hang of it, he turned his hand over to grasp Shen Qiuxun’s. Lock, unlock. Lock, unlock. It went on so many times that Shen Qiuxun began to suspect the lock would be broken. The man finally lost interest. He then hugged Shen Qiuxun, trying to kiss and lick him.
Shen Qiuxun wiped a hand over his face in silence.
After zoning out for a moment, Shen Qiuxun suddenly grabbed the man’s hair, tilting his head up. He stiffly pulled at the corners of his mouth, putting on what he thought was a gentle expression. “Do you like me?”
Xu Zhiyuan’s eyes brightened. He reached out and hugged him fiercely.
They huddled together in the corner in a bizarrely interlocked position. Shen Qiuxun was sitting on his lap in a mortifying posture, the man’s arms wrapped around his waist, maximizing their contact area. The puppy nose pressed close to Shen Qiuxun’s neck, sniffing frantically. “Like… like… like…” (They were just hugging, nothing else!)
“Like like like like like…”
“Wife, why don’t you have any Pheromones?”
“Wife, can I come in?”
“Wife, let me sniff you.”
“Wife, save me, save me, I feel so awful, so awful.”
“Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, kiss me…”
“…” Shen Qiuxun felt his ability to control his expression had been utterly destroyed. This hug was seriously pushing his limits. He finally snapped, grabbing the man by the ear. “You have to like me even when you’re not in Bonding Heat.”
Xu Zhiyuan paused his actions. He furrowed his brow, mulling over the term “Bonding Heat” for a moment. It was a bit beyond his comprehension. But it didn’t matter. He had to like him at all times. He just liked him.
He cupped Shen Qiuxun’s face and moved to lick that mole below the corner of his mouth again, a hint of shyness in his actions. “Like… like everything about you.”
“Wife, give me a baby.”
?
Shen Qiuxun’s expression shifted from disgust to extreme gravity. ‘System, can Betas get pregnant too?’
【In theory, yes. To survive, humans evolved many methods of reproduction. Like the Morian Race, where an Alpha can also bear a child with the help of the Divine Tree.】
‘.’ Shen Qiuxun looked down at the little puppy frolicking on him and twitched the corner of his mouth. ‘I don’t want to live. I’m gonna go blow up with him.’
【???】
‘Either you die or I perish. If this guy regains his senses and flips out from humiliation, wanting to hack me to death, what then?’
【If you don’t complete the mission, you’ll die anyway.】
After weighing the pros and cons for a long time, Shen Qiuxun started doom-scrolling the news in a fit of despair. The puppy kept clinging to him, kissing here, licking there, and then getting angry at his cold indifference, causing him to cry again.
His mental control was being torn apart by his loss of control, making him even more unstable.
Wearing a sour expression, Shen Qiuxun half-heartedly brushed him off: “Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, okay, okay. Stop crying, stop crying. You’re crying all your luck away, you idiot.”
Eventually, Xu Zhiyuan carried him to the bed. Diligently, he gathered blankets and clothes, painstakingly building a nest. Then, holding his Wife, he resumed the kissing and licking.
His face, neck, collarbone—everywhere was covered in his saliva. The trail of his actions showed a clear tendency to go even lower.
Shen Qiuxun finally couldn’t take it anymore. He slapped the man twice. “Damn your father! Pay up!”
Turning back to see his ravaged room, he took a deep breath. Then, he opened the door, completely ignoring Xu Zhiyuan, and right in front of him, proceeded to pick the lock of the man’s own room across the hall.
He opened the door. He carried out the blankets and pillows from the man’s bed. He also took a few tables, chairs, and small cabinets that Shen Qiuxun barely considered acceptable.
Then, with a broom, he swept all the debris and trash from his own room straight into Xu Zhiyuan’s room. He grabbed the ear of the Alpha, who was trying to crawl into his room, and kicked him out the door.
Finally, with a “Bang!”, he shut the door.
Time to sleep.
Xu Zhiyuan, whose nose had been slammed by the door: “?”
Way past midnight, he was woken by the sound of frantic scratching at his door. Shen Qiuxun rubbed his eyes, drifting like a ghost to answer it.
The living room was pitch black. A large figure was crouched in front of his door.
Xu Zhiyuan looked up. His eyes trembled, the rims swiftly reddening. Huge tears began to fall again, as if he were absolutely consumed by guilt: “Sorry, Wife…”
“???” This jolted Shen Qiuxun awake, scaring all drowsiness away. He finally recognized who was crouched at his door.
Xu Zhiyuan crawled over and hugged his pant leg, crying miserably: “Wanna sleep with Wife… Don’t wanna sleep alone… Wanna sleep with Wife… Wife, you can’t abandon me.”
Shen Qiuxun stared at him in silence. ‘So this thing can act up intermittently? Is he ever going to get better?’
【.】 The System cursed inwardly.
Shen Qiuxun grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him into the room. For the sake of the Capture Target, he threw a pillow at him.
Sniffling, Xu Zhiyuan tried to climb onto the bed, only to be kicked back to the floor. And, for good measure, slapped once more.
“You sleep there.” Shen Qiuxun pointed expressionlessly at the corner.
“…” Xu Zhiyuan tried to play pitiful, hoping for a chance to get on the bed, but was refused mercilessly. In the end, he could only hug his pillow miserably and go crouch in the corner. His face pressed against the soft pillow, he cast a resentful gaze towards the bed.
Just last night, he could cuddle and kiss in the little nest. Why today was he banished to the corner?
Casting flirtatious glances for a blind man to see.
‘When he wakes up, is he really not going to silence me?’
【Don’t even think about making a preemptive strike.】
‘.’
Shen Qiuxun lay down and, with a single mental command, fell asleep.
It wasn’t until his breathing slowly evened out that Xu Zhiyuan, in the corner, pretending to be asleep, opened his eyes again. He cautiously crawled to the bedside. He wanted to climb up, but held back, anxious. He crawled restlessly around the bed. Then, with extreme care, he lay down on the floor next to the bed, admiring his Wife’s sleeping face for a long, long time. Only then did he reluctantly settle there.
A moment later, Shen Qiuxun rolled over. His fingers just happened to slip off the edge, hanging down.
In the slumbering night, a faint, delicate fragrance wafted through the silence. It was like unspoken words lingering between lips, faint and elusive.
The dark ink-green eyes opened again in the darkness. Storm clouds churned within. He swallowed with difficulty. Finally, with utmost care, he took those pale, slender fingers into his mouth.
So sweet.
…
The next morning, Shen Qiuxun woke up. Quiet. A very, long-lost silence. After indulging in the peace and staying lazily in bed for a while, he finally realized something was wrong.
Where did that Stinky Dog go? Don’t tell me he demolished the house?!
He scrambled up. Everything was normal. Only A small note was pressed down on the bedside table: “Sorry, I will make amends for my transgression. Also, I will fix the robot I broke and return it to you.”
No one knew what state of mind Xu Zhiyuan was in when he wrote that note. His Suppressant stash was always kept in another hidden spot. But this time, the Heat had come on with such ferocity… he’d inexplicably just… come back to the Rental House.
Shameful images flashed frame by frame in his mind… Damn it, what concerned him more was actually that cold night, lying on the bathroom floor with his face covered, seeming to feel drops of this Beta’s shower water dripping into his mouth.
So sweet. No, why was he hung up on that!
Xu Zhiyuan stepped outside and saw the piles of trash he’d created in his own room. Heat instantly rushed to his brain. He was completely red. He wished he could slap himself a couple of times.
How could this be something he caused…
In short, Xu Zhiyuan was so ashamed he wanted to die. Red-faced, he fled in utter defeat.
Shen Qiuxun yawned, got up, and got dressed. He’d switched his shift with Ellie in advance last night. Today was his day to work.
It wasn’t until he arrived at the Pharmacy that he heard from others that Xu Zhiyuan had gone on a long-distance shipment run and probably wouldn’t be back for several days.
Yawning constantly, Shen Qiuxun leaned against the medicine cabinet, zoning out.
【Less than 20 days left until the mission deadline. Host, keep up the effort.】
‘I am putting in effort. Am I not working hard enough?’
【Keep it up.】
‘How about you compensate me with some money?’
The System, as always, played dead in these situations. Shen Qiuxun pursed his lips, inwardly calculating that he could treat himself to an extra roasted sand rat today as a reward.
Two more days passed. The Shopkeeper finally approached Shen Qiuxun. Puzzled, Shen Qiuxun was led into the shopkeeper’s office and invited to sit down.
The Shopkeeper wore a gray suit, seated in a spacious black office chair. The aura around him was as different from the others Shen Qiuxun saw daily as heaven and earth.
Filled with anxiety, Shen Qiuxun feared the shopkeeper had finally had enough of him slacking off every day and was going to fire him. He racked his brain for persuasive arguments to stay, completely missing Jace’s subtle, flirtatious glances.
After a long silence, they both suddenly spoke at once:
“Shopkeeper…”
“Qiuxun…”
The stiff atmosphere grew even stiffer. Jace pursed his lips, appearing understanding. “You go first.”
“Shopkeeper, I think you’ve misunderstood me. I am an absolutely stellar, model employee! I never leave early, never slack off. I complete my work diligently and meticulously. I’m united with my colleagues, respect my superiors, friendly to customers, cherish the medicine, and meticulously care for public property. I always charge to the front for work! For every difficulty, I grit my teeth and persevere. Solid, hardworking, never forgetting my original aspiration, forging ahead with diligence, all just to take our performance to the next level!” Shen Qiuxun didn’t even pause for breath, ending with a grave, firm nod.
“?” Jace paused slightly, straightened up, and looked at Shen Qiuxun encouragingly, his tone gentle. “I know you can do well.”
“Actually, the reason I called you here today was to ask… have you considered what we talked about that day? You wouldn’t reply to my messages, and you don’t talk to me normally either.”
Shen Qiuxun looked bewildered. What thing? Some shady deal? Nooo! He really was a righteous worker with principles.
Though his principles had been shattered not long ago, that was beside the point.
Jace lowered his eyes, a hint of shyness in his expression. “It’s just… will you accept my confession?”
“I will treat you very well. I have some money. You can move into my big house, eat vegetables and meat every day. I can even give you a promotion to a more leisurely job… We’d be very compatible. I’ll let you live a good life.” Jace stammered, trying to persuade him. “Of course, I know you’re not that kind of person who’s greedy for ease and pleasure. You’re different from those people who only have eyes for money…”
No, that’s exactly who he was. Shen Qiuxun deadpanned internally. Kinda tempted, Tong.
【Do you want money or your life?】
‘You know, generally speaking, I end up losing both.’
【…】
‘Can I really not say yes? I could live it up for a few days before I die.’
【I will apply for an immediate death sentence.】
‘.’ His heart reduced to ashes, Shen Qiuxun dejectedly rejected the Shopkeeper’s confession. “Sorry, Shopkeeper. I still feel it’s better to rely on myself. Yes, I’m just that kind of steadfast, incorruptible Little White Flower, Indifferent to Fame and Fortune.”
Jace’s expression stiffened, clearly not having expected rejection. An unknown thought flickered through his mind. His tone turned icy. “You still care about that crippled Alpha Transport Worker, don’t you?”
“?”
“I have more money and more power than him. He’s nothing but a lowly Fugitive. A Fugitive with a defective Gland,” Jace tried to reason with Shen Qiuxun. “He’s violent, cruel, and bloodthirsty. He’ll never cherish you. He can’t give you a single thing I can. An Alpha’s nature dictates that he will never be a qualified lover. You two are not suited for each other.”
Shen Qiuxun remained expressionless. “Sorry, but I don’t love money.” This was probably the biggest lie in the world.
A trace of hatred crept into Jace’s eyes. He ground his teeth. “I know. You’ve been seduced by that Alpha. It’s fine. It’s fine. I will let you see who the right person for you truly is.”
“…” Could it be that I really don’t love money?
‘If only Xu Zhiyuan could hear my heartfelt dedication.’
【?】
‘See? I rejected a rich, handsome Shopkeeper for a broke-ass Transport Worker. Any person would be touched.’
