Ye Mingqian stared at the contract in his hands, still unable to believe it was real.
He’d tried everything he could think of to end the contract and escape Qin Yi’s control. He’d never imagined that Qin Yi would one day terminate it himself and set him free.
The contract he’d thought he’d have to fight tooth and nail to get back had been fed into a shredder without a fuss?
Seeing the complicated look on Ye Mingqian’s face, Qin Yi turned away. “Little Zhang, take Lawyer Zhou out for me.”
Little Zhang realized his Young Master wanted to speak with Ye Mingqian alone and promptly ushered the lawyer out.
Once they were gone, the office fell silent.
Qin Yi walked over to Ye Mingqian and spoke gently. “If you think the lawyer and I are working together to cheat you, you can take the contract to another law firm and have an attorney you don’t know look it over.”
“The compensation will be in your account within three days. You can make whatever plans you want after that.”
Ye Mingqian stared up at him in disbelief. “Make whatever plans I want? I don’t have to go back to the villa with you?”
“No. Go spend more time with Grandma at the hospital.”
Ye Mingqian tightened his grip on the termination agreement. “Then… can I leave now?”
“Sure. Do you want me to have the driver take you?”
“No, thanks. I’ll get a cab.”
Qin Yi watched Ye Mingqian leave the office.
[System Notification: Ye Mingqian’s Affection Rating +1]
The door closed in front of him. Qin Yi sat back down in his office chair and scratched his head.
Does that seem right? he asked the System in his mind. I didn’t do anything before, and his Affection Rating dropped ten points at a time. I did all this today, and he only gained one?
The System replied, “There’s no bug. Ye Mingqian finds it hard to trust people. He may think you’re only giving him his freedom for now to lower his guard before you spring an even bigger trap on him.”
Qin Yi was speechless.
No wonder the rating had dropped without hesitation, while raising it was so difficult.
Still, it suited Ye Mingqian’s character. As the lead of a novel full of angst and abuse, he’d suffered too much as a child. Anyone who got close to him had an ulterior motive.
Especially after he’d presented as an Omega. All the Alphas who offered to help him were greasy scumbags lusting after his looks. They pretended to be kind and generous, but their thoughts were even filthier than each other’s.
After being hurt so many times, Ye Mingqian had become sensitive and suspicious. He didn’t trust anyone easily, especially Alphas. If an Alpha got too close, alarm bells rang in his head and he instinctively pushed them away.
Qin Yi had suddenly set him free. Of course Ye Mingqian felt uneasy. Trust couldn’t be built in a day.
“Fine,” Qin Yi said with a sigh. “Even one point is better than losing points.”
A knock sounded at the door.
“Come in,” Qin Yi said.
Little Zhang hurried in. “Young Master, CEO Qin wants you to go to his office on the top floor right away!”
CEO Qin? His big brother?
Qin Yi’s spine went rigid. He jumped up, straightened his clothes, and followed Little Zhang toward the executive offices on the top floor.
It was a workday, and the employees at Ronghua Building were busy when the elevator doors opened and an Alpha in his early twenties strolled out.
The young man wore a white tracksuit and looked clean and fresh. Tall and long-legged, with relaxed shoulders, he moved with an easy confidence. He had a high nose bridge, full lips, and eyes that looked harmlessly sincere when he smiled.
Qin Yi had the sunny, handsome look that appealed to a lot of Omegas, completely unlike his two older brothers, who had the air of walking icebergs.
Employees couldn’t help sneaking glances at him. The office gossip group was soon flooded with messages.
“Third Young Master’s at the office?”
“Why does he look so different today? He’s way more handsome than usual.”
“The Qin Family’s genes are insane. The youngest young master really is good-looking.”
“What’s he doing in the executive office? Here to get scolded again?”
“Probably got in trouble. CEO Qin’s about to give him a dressing-down.”
“Moment of silence for Third Young Master. 🕯️”
“This little menace never brings anything good when he shows up. May CEO Qin’s wrath spare the rest of us. 🙏”
Qin Yi headed straight for the office at the end of the hall.
He knocked. A cool voice came from inside. “Come in.”
Qin Yi pushed open the door. The office was spacious and bright, over a thousand square feet, with a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the busiest business district in Shenzhou City.
A male Alpha sat behind the desk in the executive chair.
He wore a dark gray suit without a single crease. His shirt was always buttoned to the top, his tie knotted perfectly, and every strand of hair in place.
The man’s expression was cool and distant. He was practically a human ice cube.
Qin Yi could only stare.
His big brother had the air of the leading man in a domineering CEO novel.
Qin Shi was the eldest son of the Qin Family and the CEO of Ronghua Pictures.
The novel hadn’t said much about him, except that Qin Shi was ruthless and had a sharp eye. After taking over as CEO of Ronghua Pictures, he replaced a slew of useless middle managers. The films he invested in kept breaking box office records, and Ronghua Group’s stock price had multiplied several times over.
He was a formidable figure with plenty of influence in the entertainment industry.
Qin Yi pasted on a bright smile, walked over, and sat down across from him. “You wanted to see me, big brother?”
Qin Shi was looking at a document. Without lifting his head, he asked coolly, “You just got married yesterday. Why aren’t you at home? What are you doing here?”
When a normal Alpha married a beautiful Omega, the Alpha would mark them on their wedding night. A full marking usually took at least three days, and some Omegas stayed in heat for as long as a week.
Whatever the case, the groom shouldn’t be running around the day after the wedding.
Qin Yi had already thought of an excuse. “I didn’t mark Mingqian last night.”
Qin Shi finally put down the document and looked up, his eyes full of suspicion. “What, can’t you?”
Qin Yi fell silent.
Qin Shi advised him, “If you’re sick, go to the hospital and see an Alpha specialist.”
Qin Yi’s ears reddened. He waved a hand quickly. “I’m not sick! I didn’t mark Mingqian for a reason. His grandmother has end-stage kidney failure. She’s still in the hospital.”
“I spoke with Brother Qin Yu yesterday. Professor Wen, a kidney specialist, is coming to Shenzhou in the next couple of days. I want to take Grandma to see him and make a plan for her treatment, so Mingqian can stop worrying.”
“Marking him can wait.”
Qin Shi listened without changing his expression. When Qin Yi finished, he gave a nod.
“Good. That almost sounds like a human being.”
Qin Yi forced a laugh and scratched his head. So I really hadn’t acted like one before. No wonder both my brothers’ Affection Scores were in the negatives, too.
“Grandma’s Mingqian’s only family,” he said. “I couldn’t just ignore her.”
Qin Shi changed the subject. “You set up a shell company behind my back and secretly used an empty office at Ronghua Group’s headquarters to scam people. I haven’t dealt with you over that yet.”
Qin Yi fell silent.
“Ronghua Group isn’t your private playground. What would people think if they found out? There are limits to how much you can get away with.”
“Using Ronghua’s name to cheat people makes the Qin Family look bad. Do you have any idea how many stupid things you’ve done?”
Qin Yi lowered his head, looking contrite. “I was wrong, big brother.”
Qin Shi paused.
His youngest brother had always been a menace. Was he really admitting he was wrong this quickly? Qin Shi hadn’t even finished the scolding he’d prepared, and Qin Yi was already on his knees.
Qin Yi smiled faintly. “It was the first time I’d ever fallen for someone. I admit, I went too far trying to get Mingqian to marry me.”
“You know I grew up doing whatever I wanted. Once I set my sights on someone, I thought I had to have him. The more Mingqian resisted, the more excited I got. That’s why I set up a fake company to trick him into signing the contract and force him to marry me…”
“But you don’t have to worry. Now that he’s agreed to marry me, I’ll treat him well. I came to the office today to sign the termination agreement and set him free.”
Qin Shi raised an eyebrow as he looked at his younger brother. Today, Qin Yi was wearing a clean, casual tracksuit. His hair wasn’t dyed or permed into some wild style, and the way he spoke so seriously was surprisingly easy on the eyes.
Qin Shi and Qin Rong were twins and very close. He wasn’t as close to their youngest brother. They were six years older, and by the time Qin Yi was born, he and Qin Rong had already been sent to an international primary school. They only saw the little boy a few times a year.
As far as Qin Shi was concerned, Qin Yi was a spoiled good-for-nothing. Aside from causing trouble for the family, he was useless. He was generous with other people’s money, though, constantly asking his parents and brothers for more. Every request was for hundreds of thousands or even millions.
Qin Shi had always held himself to high standards and worked hard. He’d thrown himself into running the company, and he despised leeches who contributed nothing.
He hadn’t expected his youngest brother to be the first of them to get married. Qin Yi was barely in his twenties and in a hurry to marry an actor. Qin Shi had assumed he was throwing another tantrum.
But now it seemed Qin Yi was serious about Ye Mingqian.
Ye Mingqian was undeniably handsome. Had this Omega really managed to charm Qin Yi into wanting to turn his life around and become a decent person?
If so, Ye Mingqian was a great benefactor to the Qin Family.
“You know you’re married now, so act like an Alpha and take responsibility,” Qin Shi said. “Dad isn’t in good health, and your second brother and I are both busy. Stop causing trouble for us. Shut down that company you set up behind my back as soon as possible. Understood?”
“No problem. I’ll take care of it today.”
Qin Shi waved him off. “Good. Go.”
Qin Yi practically fled the office.
A lot of employees were sneaking glances at him. Qin Yi smiled at them in a friendly way and went straight to the elevator, heading down to the underground garage.
His smile caught the employees off guard. The youngest master seemed a lot more pleasant than usual today. Was it just their imagination?
Qin Yi went straight to the business registration office and filed to shut down the shell company. He’d brought all the necessary paperwork, and the company needed to be dissolved as soon as possible.
As he waited at a red light, he couldn’t help chatting with the System again.
Things seem to have gone smoothly with my big brother. It’s just Ye Mingqian who’s a nightmare to win over. His Affection Score is still minus 279. At this rate, when am I ever going to get it up to 100? Will my body in the other world be completely dead by then?
“Don’t worry. The book world and your world aren’t in the same dimension. Time doesn’t pass at the same rate.”
Qin Yi saw the logic. “That makes sense. The story could cover more than ten years, while a reader only needs a few days to finish the book. So I could spend over a decade in the book and only a few days might pass in my world?”
“That’s right.”
As long as there wasn’t a time limit, he could take his time and figure things out.
Just then, his phone lit up. A cousin had sent him a private message.
“Professor Wen will be at the nephrology specialist clinic at Shenzhou First Hospital from 8:30 a.m. to noon on October 4. I booked an appointment in advance. Will you be able to take Grandma to see him then? If not, I can send your assistant.”
The “if not” probably meant if Qin Yi was busy with a newlywed marking. In this bizarre ABO world, a marking could take three days and three nights, or even seven…
The Alphas in this world had terrifying stamina. They could go at it for three or seven days straight without dropping dead. Were they even human?
Qin Yi felt a little uncertain. Would I even be able to manage that?
No, why was he thinking about this? He wasn’t going to mark Ye Mingqian.
His cousin sent another message.
“It’d be best to get some tests done at the hospital in advance. Then you can take the results straight to Professor Wen and save time.”
“Okay. Thanks, bro!”
After replying to his cousin, Qin Yi immediately messaged Ye Mingqian.
“Mingqian, my brother booked an appointment with a specialist. Professor Wen Hua will be at the clinic on the morning of the 4th.”
“I’ll pick you and Grandma up at 7:30 tomorrow morning. We’ll take her to Shenzhou First Hospital for some tests first. Make sure she’s fasting; they’ll need to draw blood.”
