Chapter 4

Huaguo's highest-tier private hospital.

The warm late-winter, early-spring sunlight filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows into the office of a doctor on the upper floors. Dust motes drifted lazily in the light, and small potted plants on the windowsill had just put out tender green shoots — lending the hospital at nine in the morning a rare, unhurried air.

"You're saying you could actually smell pheromones?!"

Beta doctor Jiang Yuan, clad in a linen shirt and cream-colored trousers, paused with his white coat in hand and snapped his head toward Fang Yixing, his expression one of utter disbelief. "You're sure it was pheromones and not perfume? Some Omegas are quite fond of wearing perfume — the ones in bars even more so."

"I'm certain it was pheromones," Fang Yixing said, leaning casually against Jiang Yuan's desk. He briefly revisited the scent he'd caught last night, then added, "Very faint, but definitely pheromones. He wasn't wearing any blocker patches, and he hasn't differentiated yet."

Jiang Yuan's mouth slowly fell open into a perfect O. That was a lot of information at once. He needed a moment.

Jiang Yuan and Fang Yixing had known each other since their student days in Europe. He was both Fang Yixing's longtime friend and his attending physician.

Yes — Fang Yixing had a condition. A rare one: pheromone perception disorder. At present, there were only three registered cases of this condition in the world's medical systems, and even Huaguo, with the most advanced medical system on the planet, had yet to develop a treatment for it.

Fang Yixing himself was rather indifferent about it — he even found it convenient. He had no interest in romance, love, or any base desires, and the pheromone perception disorder didn't interfere with his daily life. If anything, it freed him from pheromone influence entirely.

Even when the Omegas who latched onto him deliberately released pheromones to trigger a response, he remained completely unmoved.

But his mother had always worried about his condition, and so he had grudgingly agreed to the various strange methods Jiang Yuan prescribed.

A few days ago, Jiang Yuan had come up with a new approach — expose him to the pheromones of many Omegas at once, on the off chance that he might detect the scent of one highly compatible with him.

The higher the pheromone compatibility between two people, the stronger both parties' ability to perceive each other's pheromones, and of course, the greater the pleasure during bonding heat — ahem. Which was exactly why so many unattached Alphas and Omegas, when seeking partners through arranged meetings or alliances, first and foremost chose someone with high compatibility.

In all of the capital, only that bar was a place where the scents of many Omegas could be freely sampled.

Jiang Yuan had never actually expected it to work. Yet here they were — a blind cat really had stumbled upon a dead mouse. Fang Yixing may have encountered an Omega with whom he was highly compatible. And since the other party hadn't even differentiated yet and Fang Yixing could already catch those barely detectable pheromones, their compatibility was probably upward of ninety-nine percent.

A fated little Omega, beyond any doubt.

The only problem was — an undifferentiated Omega was essentially a minor. That was rather complicated.

"What's your fated little Omega like? Is he good-looking?" The mild-featured Beta doctor's eyes sparkled with nosy curiosity. "What do his pheromones smell like? Nice?"

Fang Yixing heard this and slowly curved the corner of his mouth. "Good-looking. Nice-smelling. The scent is none of your business."

Jiang Yuan: "......"

Stingy! Already worried someone's going to covet his little Omega!

Jiang Yuan delivered his devastating blow with a completely straight face. "As a friend, I feel obligated to remind you — your little Omega is still underage. If he doesn't differentiate for three years, you'll have to hold yourself back for three whole years, hahahaha."

Faced with his merciless laughter, Fang Yixing's expression froze solid.

* * *

Yun Zhi did not sleep well his first night in the Jin household. In the dream he had cried with genuine, heartfelt grief, and the moment he woke, that sorrow still clung to him — a weight like a thousand-pound stone pressing on his chest.

He rubbed his bleary eyes and sat up, crossing his legs on the bed and staring into space.

He suddenly realized something very serious. Yesterday, because of him, Fang Yixing and his brother had met ahead of time at the police station. According to the novel's plot, they were supposed to cross paths for the first time at a social party in the entertainment industry. The story had already been altered — and his brother's reaction had been off.

Looking at the way his brother had acted, it was as though he'd seen a perfectly ordinary stranger — no extreme reaction whatsoever.

Yun Zhi felt like he was this world's butterfly. Small as he was, with enough effort on his part, the future could be changed enormously. He was suddenly filled with confidence about redirecting the plot.

He found the slip of paper Fang Yixing had written for him yesterday, and on the bedside table spotted the new phone the housekeeper had thoughtfully prepared. When he turned it on, he found the housekeeper had already helpfully downloaded the usual apps and saved a number of contacts for him.

He typed in the string of numbers from the paper slip and sent a WeChat friend request. The other side accepted almost instantly.

Fang Yixing's profile picture looked entirely black at first glance; only by tapping to enlarge it could you make out pinpoints of light scattered across it — a starry sky. His display name was nothing but a dash, a simple punctuation mark. Perfectly in keeping with his cool, aloof persona.

Yun Zhi looked down at his phone, unconsciously pressing his lips together, and typed: [Hi! Not sure if you remember me — I'm Yun Zhi, we met at the bar last night, you went with me to the police station]

—: [Yun Zhi. I remember.]

Yun Zhi set a nickname for him and typed back: [Are you busy today? Do you have work? /peeks]

Fang Little Beautiful O: [I have some things this morning — need to go back to the company and go over a contract with my manager. I'm free after 3pm.]

Fang Yixing didn't know why he'd explained in such detail when there was really no need to, but he found himself wanting to let Yun Zhi know about his schedule.

Yun Zhi tapped his chin. [Could I take you out to eat this afternoon? You did so much for me last night, and waited with me at the police station for so long — I feel a little bad about it]

Fang Little Beautiful O: [No need to thank me again — what I did was the right thing to do. But I actually was thinking of finding someone to eat with this afternoon. Shall we go together?]

Yun Zhi typed back with a grin: [Yes!]

After sorting out the time and place with Fang Yixing, Yun Zhi hurried off to wash up. He picked a random outfit from the wardrobe that the housekeeper had already put together, and only after getting dressed did he realize it might not be great that he'd slept in so late.

Brother had surely been up for ages already, hadn't he?

Had he been waiting for them to have breakfast together for a long time?

Yun Zhi shuffled out of his room in his cotton slippers and nearly skidded on the corridor floor at the corner. The housekeeper, who was just on his way to wake the young little master, reached out and steadied him. "Young little master, be careful not to fall. What has you running so fast?"

"Where's my brother? Has he been waiting for me long?"

The housekeeper blinked in surprise, then broke into a smile. "It was the young master who told me not to wake you too early this morning. The young little master was exhausted yesterday — rest was the priority. Now that you're up and rested, I'll take you for breakfast first, and then to see the young master."

The housekeeper took Yun Zhi for breakfast, reminded him to eat slowly and chew properly, and half an hour later, led him up to the third-floor study.

The housekeeper didn't dare disturb Jin Zeli while he was working without being asked, and simply made a "please" gesture at the doorway, indicating that Yun Zhi should go in on his own.

Yun Zhi pushed open the mahogany study door quietly and poked his fluffy head in. Seeing Jin Zeli seated inside, leafing through documents, he called out softly, "Brother."

Jin Zeli looked up.

"Brother, may I come in?" Yun Zhi asked.

"Come here." Jin Zeli beckoned him over and patted the long sofa behind him. "Did you sleep well last night?"

Yun Zhi sat up straight on the sofa and nodded. "Slept wonderfully."

"Good." Jin Zeli smiled slightly. "Now, brother wants to ask you — have you really lost all your memories from before? Even after sleeping on it, you still can't remember anything?"

Yun Zhi nodded and lowered his little head with an apologetic look.

"It's alright. Don't be sad." Jin Zeli ruffled his hair, and the smile on his face actually seemed lighter, more relaxed. "Anything you don't know, you can come and ask me. I'll tell you everything. How about letting the doctor come by this afternoon for a full check-up, alright?"

"Alright, brother."

Not wanting to keep disturbing his brother's work, Yun Zhi didn't stay long before retreating from the study.

He went back to his room and tried to piece together the original host's life from the traces he'd left behind.

Yun Zhi turned through the original host's photo album, then looked through all the report cards he'd compiled over the years. Quite the surprise. The original host's grades from childhood through first year of senior high had been excellent — but in second year of senior high, every subject had fallen off a cliff. After that there were no more records.

Yun Zhi had a bold suspicion. Had he dropped out?

After the housekeeper confirmed it — he had, tragically, dropped out.

Yun Zhi didn't know why the original host had quit school, and the housekeeper couldn't explain it either. But whatever the reason, now that he had every condition he could possibly need to study, he would at least see university through to the end.

So at lunch, Yun Zhi proposed to Jin Zeli that he wanted to return to school, and promised he would study hard and test into a good university.

Jin Zeli didn't overthink it. Before, when the original Yun Zhi had been reluctant and refused to study, he had indulged him. Now that he wanted to attend school, he would give him the best conditions possible — find the best tutors to help him catch up.

Though since it was summer break right now, Yun Zhi figured he could start by going through the textbooks on his own first. If the material turned out to be too difficult, it wouldn't be too late to hire a tutor then.

That afternoon, Jin Zeli asked Yun Zhi to stay home and rest while waiting for the doctor's examination, then headed out to the company.

At around two o'clock, Yun Zhi finished the thorough examination, saw the doctor off, then went back upstairs to grab his phone and a small wallet, ready to head out for his "date" with Fang Yixing.

At that exact moment, in his private office, Jin Zeli was watching the security camera feed on his computer and saw Yun Zhi push open the villa's front door. He paused what he was working on, his sharp gaze fixed on the small figure in the camera, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

He picked up his phone and dialed a number. His tone was flat and emotionless. "Yun Zhi has left the house. Keep an eye on him."

The other end responded immediately. "Understood."

Yun Zhi stood at the iron gate of the villa with his phone, hesitating.

Should family members let each other know when they were going out?

Not wanting his brother to worry, Yun Zhi belatedly realized he should call and picked up his phone to dial Jin Zeli. "Brother! Are you busy?"

Jin Zeli watched his every move through the computer screen. "Not particularly. What is it?"

"Just wanted to let you know — I'm heading out. I'll probably be back in the evening." Yun Zhi had a habit of smiling even when he talked.

"Where are you going?" Jin Zeli's grip on his phone tightened involuntarily.

"I'm taking someone out to eat." Yun Zhi brought up Fang Yixing deliberately — he wanted to check his brother's reaction once more. He said, "There was an Omega who helped me yesterday, remember? I want to treat him to a nice meal as thanks."

Jin Zeli was silent for two seconds, then reached out and closed the live camera feed on his computer. His tone softened. "Got it. Go ahead."

Yun Zhi let out a long breath. He had been very tense when he mentioned treating Fang Yixing to dinner — terrified his brother would take notice of Fang Yixing. But fortunately, his brother hadn't insisted on coming along. He probably hadn't given Fang Yixing a second thought.

He hung up. Jin Zeli tapped his fingers on the desk twice, then dialed the same number he'd just called, his voice cold and commanding. "No need to follow. Going forward, unless I tell you otherwise, you don't need to tail Yun Zhi when he goes out."

The Yun Zhi who had lost his memory was more obedient. He knew to check in before going out, and didn't lie to him.

If Yun Zhi was going to be this well-behaved, he could afford to ease up on the surveillance a little.