.

After a full half-minute of total brain freeze, the memories from the early hours came crashing in like a tornado, leaving wreckage everywhere.

So the underwear really was ruined.

Wen Ran sat there like a wooden post, trying to convince himself it was all a dream. No luck. Even dreams couldn't come up with something this absurd and intense.

On the verge of collapse, he didn't dare look at the chat again. Hands shaking, he flipped the mobile phone face-down on the seat and dropped his head, covering his burning face. He couldn't understand how, after everything that happened, Gu Yunchi could still act so normal this morning — talking to him, sitting across from him at breakfast.

If your attitude is that flat, why bother reminding me to remember it too?

During the heat his head had been foggy. Too many details he couldn't pin down — whether Gu Yunchi's wristband had the one-way switch flipped, whether that cigarette actually got finished.

And if there wasn't, then everything had an explanation: Gu Yunchi had only allowed Wen Ran close, allowed all of it to happen, because of the Pheromone, because of the X-cravings.

That's why there was no kiss. Even though he'd forgotten so much, Wen Ran remembered this one point with weird, stubborn clarity.

He steadied his breathing, rolled the window down further, let the wind take the heat off his face.

Wen Ran figured he didn't have the face to send 'a good person' another message for the foreseeable future.

Home was almost noon. Aunt Fang was making lunch, which meant Chen Shuhui was in. No clue what kind of mockery was waiting for him about Gu Yunchi taking him away and him not coming home all night. Wen Ran shouldered his backpack and went upstairs.

Just onto the corridor, the master bedroom door opened. Wen Rui — hadn't been home in over a month — holding a few documents. Probably the reason he came back.

'Got kidnapped yesterday?' Wen Rui walked over. 'Heard Gu Yunchi flew back to the country just for you, pulled a whole squad of cops. Tell me you two aren't actually together, right?'

Wen Ran had braced for the same kind of warning Chen Shuhui would give — remember your place, it's all about the match rate, you're not in any position to talk about love, all the lines he'd heard a thousand times and could recite in his sleep. But Wen Rui said: 'If it's real, that's not bad either.'

Seeing Wen Ran frown, Wen Rui said oddly: 'Why are you looking at me like that? What I said wrong? You know what a door-knocker is? It's the brick you use to knock the door open, then toss aside. You're that brick.'

'But the precious young master Gu actually picked your brick up off the ground himself. If I were you, I'd milk it for everything I could while he's still interested. Get what you can while you can. Wen Ran, after all these years you still don't get it? The more obedient you are, the more they'll squeeze you dry. You think she's ever spent one second actually seeing you as her son?'

Wen Ran had seen through all of this long before Wen Rui said it. No matter how obedient he was, he was never going to get a single moment of motherly love from Chen Shuhui. But it didn't matter anymore. He already knew who his real mother was. He'd find her.

Wen Ran only said: 'If she finds out you're egging me on like this, she'll be angry.'

'Is this egging on? This is heartfelt advice. I just don't want you ending up looking too pathetic, so I'm telling you to think about yourself for once.' Wen Rui smiled. 'As for whether she's angry — not my problem. Having a son like me is her bad luck.'

'You seem in a good mood.'

'Mm-hm.' Wen Rui showed a trace of smugness. 'Planning to register the marriage this year.'

He was over here feeling pleased with himself, while Fang Yisen had no idea how depressed he was on the other side. Wen Ran asked, surprised: 'Assistant Fang said yes?'

'Yeah, hard to believe, right?' Wen Rui laughed under his breath. 'Didn't expect it either. He actually agreed.'

Something felt off, but it wasn't his place to interfere. Wen Ran reminded him: 'How are you going to handle the family?'

'Too lazy to handle. Dare block me and we all go down together.' Wen Rui didn't care at all. 'Your mom's already a Boqing executive, your big brother here is about to step into a new chapter of life. You should think about your own exit too. Don't wait until Gu Yunchi finds out you've been lying to him — by then it's too late. Those kidnappers from the other day? Cops took them away but they never made it to a station. Guess whose hands they ended up in. Guess what happened to them.'

Just as he finished, Chen Shuhui came out of her room. Wen Rui rolled his eyes and walked off. Wen Ran silently pushed open his own door.

He deliberately left it open. Sure enough, Chen Shuhui came in not long after. Wen Ran set his backpack on the desk and turned to look at her.

The interrogation he'd braced for never came. Chen Shuhui looked perfectly normal — pleasant, even. 'Boqing Group's foundation is holding a Charity Evening Banquet next Friday. You should go too.'

Wen Ran didn't ask questions, just nodded. 'Okay.'

'Have you eaten lunch?'

Hard to imagine those words coming out of Chen Shuhui's mouth. Wen Ran answered: 'Already ate.'

Chen Shuhui said 'then get some rest,' and closed the door behind her.

Wen Ran sat down in the chair, thought for a moment, and quickly sorted it out.

After years together, he knew exactly how good his adoptive mother was at reading the room. At first he'd been the docile adopted son, drilled to repay the Wen Family and serve Shengdian Group. From thirteen he'd been in the research institute prepping for the surgery, obedient to everything.

The surgery's success gave the Wen Family a chance to stand in front of Gu Peiwen. Chen Shuhui kept demanding he please Gu Yunchi, using the match rate and pheromones as leverage to make the Gu Family see his value and push the engagement forward.

Once the alliance marriage was confirmed and the first goal achieved, Chen Shuhui turned her attention to how she and Wen Rui could further entrench themselves in Boqing Group. At the same time, the Little Fishing Village incident had made her suspicious of him — afraid this obedient chess piece would lean toward Gu Yunchi and slip out of her grip — so she'd warned him to keep his distance.

But after the rainy-night model delivery, the kidnapping rescue, a string of things, Chen Shuhui had probably realized this always-obedient adopted son couldn't be put back the way he was. So she'd shifted from harsh words to soft tactics, trying to steady the people and the situation before anything bigger blew up.

At the root of it, she wanted to carve out a new profit channel from him. One plan fails, onto the next.

Friday evening. Same driver Gu Yunchi had arranged sent Wen Ran to the hotel. The charity gala was Chen Shuhui's show — as the foundation's new director, this event was no doubt great for her reputation and her networking.

When he reached the banquet hall, foundation vice chairman Gu Chongze was also entering. Chen Shuhui cut off her conversation with the guests, stepped forward, extended her hand to Gu Chongze, a faint elegant smile on her face.

Wen Ran stood outside the crowd watching. He'd always thought Chen Shuhui's cool attitude toward Gu Chongze was just her being too lazy to court him. Now he wondered if maybe they were just very familiar with each other.

Familiar enough that they had to use cold, distant manners to cover it up, avoid suspicion.

A bit of a surprise — Lin Yumian was there. Wen Ran was still debating whether to go say hi when Lin noticed him and waved him over. Wen Ran walked over immediately: 'Uncle Lin.'

'Long time no see.' Lin took him somewhere quieter. 'You had a little accident last week?'

'Yeah, but nothing actually happened.'

'Still, be more careful. Heard you didn't have a driver or bodyguard before. Now?'

'Now I do.'

Lin smiled. 'Yunchi arranged it for you, right?'

'Mm.' Wen Ran nodded.

'He and Heyang are flying back to the country today. They could have come, but it's an evening flight, too rushed, so they skipped it.'

'Today?' A whole week of not daring to send 'a good person' a single message — Wen Ran had no idea. 'I thought he came back last Friday. Wouldn't be back again so soon.'

'Because today is the original return date. Last time Yunchi took emergency leave.'

Catching something off, Wen Ran asked: 'Leave? Aren't they traveling together? Why would you call it leave?'

Lin seemed a little surprised too, looked at Wen Ran for a few seconds like he was confirming something, then smiled: 'Slip of the tongue. But leaving friends mid-trip still counts as taking leave, I guess.'

The auction was about to start. Lin said goodbye and went to his seat. Wen Ran looked around, saw Wen Rui's small table had an empty spot, went over — only for Wen Rui to rudely say: 'Get up. That's Fang Yisen's seat.'

'Where's Assistant Fang?'

'Out on a call.' Wen Rui tilted his chin forward. 'Go ask her. Seats are assigned.'

It was Chen Shuhui's secretary. Wen Ran had no choice but to go ask: 'Hello, where's my seat?'

'Right this way.' The secretary gestured and led Wen Ran to the right.

The closer they got, the more uneasy Wen Ran felt — the rightmost had only one empty seat, right next to Gu Chongze.

Gu Chongze tonight was just a simple appearance, no donation or auction participation, so he sat low-key in the corner of the first row. Under the secretary's guidance, Wen Ran resigned himself to the small sofa on Gu Chongze's right and nodded at him: 'Uncle Gu.'

The other man gave a small nod.

The auction started. The lot was some painting he couldn't make heads or tails of. Wen Ran's gaze drifted off, but inside he had this strong urge to message Gu Yunchi — ask if he'd gotten to the Capital City, ask why he'd suddenly come back last week.

'You're in your last year of high school?'

A voice yanked him back. Realized it was Gu Chongze talking to him, Wen Ran's nerves immediately pulled taut: 'Yes.'

Gu Chongze himself wasn't the kind of alpha whose presence crushed you. Wen Ran had almost believed he really was above it all. Now, suspecting he and Chen Shuhui had been cooking up some years-long scheme together, Wen Ran couldn't look at that elegant, mild-mannered mask anymore without seeing through it.

Maybe Gu Chongze was the one who'd actually proposed the gland implant surgery in the first place, and Chen Shuhui had just taken the suggestion and run with it.

'That's right.' Wen Ran kept his tone as normal as he could.

'Thinking about what university?'

Wen Ran lowered his eyes. 'Whatever the family arranges.'

Gu Chongze seemed to smile, picked up his glass, took a sip, then said: 'Nothing you actually want to do?'

Suddenly it clicked — why Chen Shuhui wanted him here, why she'd put him in this seat. Gu Chongze wanted to see him, and this gala was the perfect excuse.

If he didn't know about Chen Shuhui and Gu Chongze, he'd probably think it was a coincidence.

'Just hobbies. Choosing a university and a major is a serious thing — should listen to the adults.'

'Maybe we'll have you and Yunchi at the same school. After all, your pheromones are useful to him.'

A vague sense of being tested. Couldn't tell which angle. Wen Ran felt like he was being scrutinized, his value weighed. It made him deeply uncomfortable.

'We'll see what Grandpa Gu and my mom decide.' Wen Ran gave a roundabout answer.

Gu Chongze smiled, said nothing more, turned to watch the auction stage.

Couldn't sit still. Wen Ran glanced back, saw Fang Yisen coming back from his call to his seat. As he pulled his gaze back it accidentally swept past a dark corner — Wen Ran froze. An alpha in a black tee, arms folded, leaning against the side door. Vaguely, like he was looking this way.

Wen Ran turned back, sat there for two seconds, then turned to look again. The side door was empty.

But his heart was already pounding. Wen Ran clenched his fist and said to Gu Chongze: 'Uncle Gu, I'm going to the washroom.'

Gu Chongze glanced at him and nodded.

Wen Ran stood up, walked along the wall to that side door, opened it, stepped out. Outside was a poorly lit corridor, rest rooms on either side. Wen Ran ran a few steps and called out: 'Gu Yunchi?'

The corridor was dead quiet. Wen Ran kept going, uncertain, then heard a faint sound. He turned and a hand was already reaching for him — before he could react, he was pulled inside a room.

When he was pushed up onto the table and sat there, his head was still a mess, but his heart was already happy — because he caught the pheromones clinging to the other man's clothes.

'You made it to the Capital City?' Wen Ran said. 'Uncle Lin said you guys wouldn't come.'

'See a shadow and you chase it out. You got any safety sense at all?'

Pitch black. That actually relaxed Wen Ran — saved him from having to face Gu Yunchi's face after last week's heat. He felt along the table edge until he found Gu Yunchi's hands braced on either side of his legs, and gently laid his own over them. 'I only chased it because I knew it was you.'

He traced up the back of the hand, slowly to the shoulder. Gu Yunchi didn't object, so Wen Ran wrapped his arms around his neck and pressed his face to the side of his neck. 'Uncle Lin said you flew back specially last week. Is that true?'

Gu Yunchi stood between his legs and let him hold on. 'What do you think?'

'I don't know. Doesn't matter. Seeing you makes me happy.' Wen Ran straightened up. 'My brother said those guys didn't end up in a police station. Did you have them taken?'

'Shipped them off to Luan Mountain to feed the sharks.'

Ignoring the joke, Wen Ran asked: 'Did you find anything? What about Shao Peng — got him?'

'Not time to grab him yet.' Gu Yunchi said. 'The kidnapping was for questioning — that's the Tang-Wei Clan's angle. Someone else wanted to borrow a knife to do the killing.'

Wen Ran thought it through carefully and arrived at a conclusion he didn't quite believe: 'You're saying someone wanted to use your hands to take out Tang Feiyi and Wei Lingzhou?'

'Or maybe they wanted you dead in those guys' hands first, then used my power to clean up Tang Feiyi and Wei Lingzhou. Two birds, one stone.'

He didn't spell it out, but Wen Ran got it.

In that kidnapping, his role was the discarded piece. The sacrifice. If he died, everyone won. Even if he didn't, Tang Feiyi and Wei Lingzhou couldn't escape the connection.

Right now, the family feuding hardest with the Tang-Wei Clan was undoubtedly the Wen Family — the Wen Family had indulged the kidnapping. Chen Shuhui probably hadn't wanted him to come back alive.

Wen Ran was quiet for a long time. Gu Yunchi said: 'A bit late to be scared now, isn't it.'

'Not really.' Maybe he'd just gotten too used to Chen Shuhui hating him, but Wen Ran wasn't that shocked. If anything, he felt a strange kind of relief.

'But it's just speculation. It won't happen a second time.'

Like he'd just decided something, Wen Ran said: 'I think you need to be careful around Uncle Gu.'

'Is that so.' Gu Yunchi didn't seem surprised. Through the dark, he looked at Wen Ran's face. 'Reason.'

'Just feels dangerous. Anyway, pay attention.' Seeing no reaction from Gu Yunchi, Wen Ran grabbed his shoulder and shook it, a little urgent. 'Did you hear me?'

'Heard you. I'm not deaf.'

Wen Ran relaxed a little, then suddenly hugged Gu Yunchi again. As Gu Yunchi's wristband slid around his waist, Wen Ran asked offhand: 'Did you come alone? Where's Lu Heyang?'

'Tch.' Gu Yunchi said. 'Didn't come. His boyfriend's in his susceptibility period.'

'Xu Ze? S-Class alphas get susceptibility periods too?'

'How'd you know his boyfriend is Xu Ze?'

'Guessed.'

'Guess your IQ's a notch above He Wei's.'

Wen Ran didn't care about his own IQ. He cared more about Gu Yunchi's health. 'Do you get susceptibility periods? If you do, what do you do?'

After a long moment, Gu Yunchi answered: 'Might die.'