Chapter 52

"I'm fine with it — it's not like Chengxi is the only point. But after you two joined, the focus shifted entirely to Chengxi, and we haven't even split much of the profit before the line went dead. Are you willing to accept that?"

"Willing or not, there's nothing to be done about it." Wei Lingzhou said. "But personally, I don't think we need to rush. Wrap things up slowly — whatever batches we can move, we move. If we treat every shadow as an enemy, we'll never make the big money."

"Wei-zong still has the farthest sight after all." Tang Feiyi seemed quite satisfied with Wei Lingzhou's view. "The resources haven't run dry yet, so we should make good use of them to the very last moment. What do you say, He-zong?"

He Yu didn't answer right away. A few seconds passed before he said, "Being careful is never wrong."

Other people had come out to the terrace, so the three ended their conversation and left, leaving behind a thread of cigarette smoke caught in the wind. Even though He Wei was holding him, Chi Jiahán felt, for no reason at all, cold.

"Wei Lingzhou, Tang Feiyi." Chi Jiahán lifted his head. "There was a third one — do you know who it was?"

"He Yu." He Wei's profile looked serious and grave — an expression rarely seen on him. He said, "My cousin."

One was Wei Lingzhou, the League Council Chairman's son-in-law, the son of a wealthy magnate with deep pockets; the other was He Yu, the League Central Bank President's nephew, heir to the Shipping Transport Group — Tang Feiyi certainly had a sharp eye when it came to picking partners.

Chi Jiahán opened his mouth, wanting to ask something, but in the end said nothing. He Wei was still looking toward the railing, silent.

A minute later, He Wei's hand suddenly reached toward his face. Chi Jiahán didn't understand why. He Wei turned his head, patted gently around Chi Jiahán's eyes, and once he'd confirmed he wasn't crying anymore, said, "Let's go. We're heading back."

"What should we do?" Chi Jiahán couldn't help asking.

"We only caught a few sentences like that — it's useless. I'll ask Heyang and Yun Chi about it when the time comes."

"Our little Chi — for today, just pretend you didn't hear any of it. Don't tell anyone. Don't put yourself in danger." He Wei cupped Chi Jiahán's face in both hands, rubbing gently. "Understood?"

Chi Jiahán hadn't yet collected himself. The tiny mole at the tip of his nose flickered in and out of view beneath the moonlight, and He Wei bent his head and pressed a kiss to it.

"Get lost!" Chi Jiahán snapped back to himself at once and drove a fist into He Wei's shoulder.

On the last day of summer vacation, Xu Ze spent it in his Susceptibility Period. This time it was probably because he'd been working every day through the break, often staying up late and pulling overtime, which had dragged his immunity down — and on top of that, he hadn't had a Susceptibility Period for quite a long while, so this one came on with a vengeance.

He opened his eyes a little past eight in the morning, dragged himself up to wash, then crawled back to bed. Dizzy, feverish. By the time Xu Ze fumbled groggily for his Mobile Phone again, it was nearly ten.

The wages from the Auto Repair Shop had already been deposited. Xu Ze rubbed his eyes, squinting hard at the screen, left himself five hundred yuan for living expenses, and transferred the rest to the Sanatorium's corporate account. Then he turned off his phone and closed his eyes again.

Xu Ze felt as though he were dreaming — in the dream he heard knocking, but his body wouldn't move. Xu Ze wanted very badly to go open the door, to open it and see whether Lu Heyang had come, so he could see him, even if only in a dream.

The knocking stopped. The phone rang. Xu Ze fumbled on the bed for seven or eight seconds before his hand found the phone, then swiped at the screen several times before finally connecting.

"Xu Ze — not home?"

Xu Ze said, "I'm here."

After he spoke, several seconds passed before Xu Ze realized he had only opened his mouth — no sound had come out at all. What the other end could hear was probably only his rapid breathing.

"What are you doing?" Lu Heyang asked politely. "I'm at your front door. May I kick it in? If I break it, I'll get you a new one."

"W-wait a moment." Xu Ze propped himself up with great effort. "I'm coming."

He wasn't sure how he'd made it to the living room. The moment the door opened, he couldn't keep his footing and pitched sideways. Lu Heyang caught him, shut the door behind them with one hand, turned the Wristband up a notch, then lifted Xu Ze and carried him toward the bedroom.

Xu Ze's forehead pressed against the side of Lu Heyang's neck, burning hot. Stepping into the room, Lu Heyang saw the nest on the bed — ringed with pillows, sheets, clothes — one side of it flush against the wall. Xu Ze had probably spent the whole night curled up against the wall.

The biology textbook said that when an Alpha exhibits Nesting Behavior, it indicates that the instability of Pheromones during the Susceptibility Period has reached a serious degree — serious enough to affect normal consciousness.

Lu Heyang set Xu Ze down on the bed, and sure enough Xu Ze felt his way back into that little nest, head pressed to the wall, his whole body curled up. He sneezed.

In some buried part of his mind, Xu Ze knew Lu Heyang had come. He wanted to open his eyes and look at him, wanted to talk to him — but instinct drove Xu Ze back into this nest, into self-protection.

Lu Heyang opened the bag he'd brought and took out a vial of antipyretic, twisting off the cap. He sat on the bed, moved aside the pillow beside Xu Ze, and discovered that underneath it someone had stuffed a summer-vacation homework book.

It was the first time he'd ever seen an Alpha build a nest out of homework.

"Good student, open your mouth." Lu Heyang brought the antipyretic to Xu Ze's lips. "Take the medicine and you can do your homework. School starts tomorrow."

Xu Ze hadn't really caught what he was saying, but since it was Lu Heyang feeding it to him — Xu Ze obediently opened his mouth.

The taste was strange; Xu Ze had never drunk anything like this before, because it was expensive. He frowned as he swallowed the antipyretic down, licked his lips, and let out a small sound: "Water…"

Lu Heyang hadn't caught it. "Hm?"

"Want some water…" Xu Ze was listless, his tone drawn out longer than usual, sounding soft and cotton-soft.

Lu Heyang asked, half-rising, "Are you acting spoiled?"

"No." Xu Ze struggled to parse what he was saying and answered.

By then Lu Heyang had already gone over to the desk, poured the water, and brought it back. He said, "If you're not acting spoiled, then I won't pour it for you."

Xu Ze was muddled. He half-opened his eyes, stared at the wall, and slowly spent half a minute processing — and was finally forced to admit: "I'm acting spoiled."

"Good." Lu Heyang helped him sit up.

Xu Ze leaned against Lu Heyang and drank a few sips of water. Maybe it was psychological, but he felt a little better. The truth was, somewhere in the middle of the night Xu Ze had wanted nothing more than to shove everything in the room onto the bed, piled high, to increase his sense of security and belonging — this had only happened once before, on the day of his second differentiation, when he'd moved things onto the bed like an ant, over and over, and still felt it wasn't enough.

At that time Ye Yunhua was already in the psychiatric hospital, and Xu Ze was alone at home. He didn't know he was undergoing a second differentiation — he was only bewildered, panicked.

At fourteen, Xu Ze had piled his small bed full and curled up inside for a day and a night — but none of it, all of it, could compare to seventeen-year-old today, to Lu Heyang's simple, single embrace.

"Drink a little more." Lu Heyang held Xu Ze from behind, one hand feeding him water, the other feeling his forehead. "I heard the antipyretic doesn't taste great."

Xu Ze tipped his head back, drinking sip by sip. The moment the last drop slid down, he braced his hands and turned around, shoving Lu Heyang on the shoulder.

He wasn't sure how much force he'd used, but Lu Heyang went down easily enough, the cup clattering aside. Xu Ze crawled forward two steps and straddled Lu Heyang. Lu Heyang watched him unhurriedly, the picture of a perfectly virtuous husband.

Last Susceptibility Period, Xu Ze had only dared look at him while half-convinced he was dreaming; this time he had the nerve to climb on top of him. Lu Heyang felt Xu Ze had made progress.

Xu Ze was breathing hard. He looked at Lu Heyang for a few seconds, then leaned in. The Wristband Lu Heyang wore was of excellent quality, blocking out Pheromone completely — only by pressing close could Xu Ze smell the Pheromone on his body and his clothes.

It was Alpha Pheromone, and it had no soothing effect on Xu Ze at all. Instead it stung him into a frown, made him restless in an instant. He bunched Lu Heyang's T-shirt in his fists, a rare flicker of aggression surfacing.

"You asked to smell it yourself." Lu Heyang steadied his waist, unhurried. "Smelled it and now you're angry."

Xu Ze was like a dog whose teeth hadn't yet bared before its master issued a warning — he stopped at once. Then he reached up a hand to cover Lu Heyang's eyes. His gaze drifted down, settling on Lu Heyang's mouth. Xu Ze's Adam's apple moved, and he asked, "Can I…"

Then he remembered Lu Heyang had once told him not to ask before doing this kind of thing, so Xu Ze lowered his head and brushed Lu Heyang's upper lip.

…

This was the longest Xu Ze had ever spent washing. Lu Heyang lowered Xu Ze's legs, let him stand steady, then turned on the showerhead — the one that had run for only a few minutes at the very start and then never been used again.

Water pattered down over both of them. Xu Ze leaned against the wall, already exhausted, but for no particular reason he suddenly laughed.

"What's funny?" Lu Heyang asked.

Xu Ze shook his head without speaking and held him.

The reason he laughed was that Xu Ze felt Lu Heyang was now standing beside him, being watered like a tree sapling along with him.