Chapter 156: Second Mark

Chapter 156 Marking Again

The small cake was a blueberry cream cheese mousse, its slightly tart yet refreshing sweetness exploding on the tongue. Liang Xu paused for a moment before swallowing.

He didn’t often eat sweets. As a child, he hadn’t had the means, and the Ye household was strict. Later, when he took charge of New Leaf Group, he maintained rigorous self-discipline, keeping his meals controlled and regular, so sugary treats held even less appeal. But the atmosphere now was just right, and he couldn’t help but take a few more bites.

Seeing him eat, Shi Lv’s eyes crinkled into a smile. “Pretty good, huh?”

Liang Xu gave a soft hum. “Very good.”

His easygoing demeanor dissolved the last of Shi Lv’s hesitation. Holding the tray with both hands, Shi Lv sat down beside Liang Xu, watching the rich kid and his girlfriend playfully banter nearby. “Boss, you’re still talking business with clients on the weekend?”

Liang Xu replied, “Barely even business.”

The deal settled today meant little to either the Ye or Qin families—it was merely indulging a kid’s game.

Sitting beside him, Shi Lv snuck glances at his boss’s face, hesitating. The vibe was easy—should he ask about the Bay investment? After all, both X and he felt the risks far outweighed the potential gains, yet Liang Xu had pushed it forward single-handedly.

Shi Lv had grown to love his current field, getting a real knack for finance. He wondered if there were complexities he hadn’t considered.

Liang Xu didn’t seem the petty type, so Shi Lv ventured softly, “Boss, about the meeting you took me to yesterday… there’s something I don’t quite understand.”

He laid out his confusion, to which Liang Xu only said, “You’re not wrong, but I’ve got my reasons.”

As for why, he offered no further explanation.

Shi Lv had to drop it.

Qin Si and his girlfriend stayed in the shop for two hours before heading out to explore. Liang Xu accompanied them, bidding Shi Lv farewell.

Shi Lv remained behind, serving customers and playing with the kittens. At one point, the café owner stepped out, leaving Shi Lv in charge.

“My family’s chonky orange tabby is pregnant, and the monitor shows she’s about to give birth. I need to go check on her,” the owner explained.

Shi Lv naturally agreed.

He stayed until 5 p.m., then took the subway back to school. The subway was packed, forcing him to stand while gripping the handrail. With bad signal, he scrolled through his phone gallery instead.

He had taken many kitten photos that day, eager to share them. In one, Gingerbread lay on his back, licking his belly like a chubby chicken leg, while Cheese turned into a liquid blob inside a cat bowl—utterly adorable, making you wanna grab and cuddle them.

But he didn’t really know anyone here. His roommate had exchanged a few words with him, but they weren’t close. After a brief hesitation, Shi Lv opened BlueBlue.

These days, the person he’d chatted with the most was Mr. X.

Shi Lv typed: *Mr. X, I went to a cat café today and played with kittens.*

Then he reconsidered. It felt inappropriate. He and X were merely passing acquaintances—X admired his abs, he admired X’s knowledge, a straight-up quid pro quo. Sharing snippets of life and idle chatter seemed too personal.

So he hit *recall*. But the moment he did, a message popped up from the other side:

“What kind of kittens? Were they cute?”

“…Hm? Why’d you recall it?”

Shi Lv hurriedly replied, “No, no—it wasn’t a recall, just a misclick.”

He added, “They were adorable. There were about a dozen or so, but two really took to me—one a tabby, the other a ginger.”

As he spoke, he pulled up photos of Gingerbread and Tangyuan and sent them over.

X: "It really is an adorable kitten."

X was typing...

Shi Lv waited for him to continue, but the other side kept showing "typing" for over a minute without sending any message.

Shi Lv: "Mr. X?"

After a long while, X replied: "Do you have any photos of yourself?"

Liang Xu sat in his office chair, fingers hovering over the screen for a long time before lowering his gaze: "...Do you have any of you holding the kittens?"

Shi Lv hesitated: "Me? But I wasn’t showing my abs when holding the kittens."

"..."

X sounded like he’d given up: "I didn’t mean I wanted to see your abs."

Only a pervert would do that!

He sighed: "Never mind, the cats are cute..."

Shi Lv: "This one?"

It was a selfie, still not showing his face. The camera captured his abdomen and thighs. Shi Lv was genuinely popular with the cats—he sat cross-legged on the floor of the cat café, surrounded by a cluster of fluffy furballs. Gingerbread lay sprawled on his stomach, treating it like a soft mattress, while Cheese and a few others curled up on his thighs. With sunlight as warm and rich as milk coffee, a group of affectionate creatures surrounded the clean-cut young man.

Liang Xu studied it silently for a while before saving the photo.

A moment later, his eyes crinkled with faint amusement as he commented tactfully: "Ah yes, the dust-prevention apron."

Shi Lv: "!"

He had deliberately picked a photo where the cats covered his valet uniform!

"It’s an apron," Shi Lv quickly clarified. "You have to wear one when entering the cat café for sterilization and to avoid carrying dust."

X: "Hmm, so it’s an apron to prevent dust."

For some reason, Shi Lv automatically imagined his boss saying those words. Maybe it was because both X and Mr. Liang were business elites—refined, unhurried in their manner, and always composed. He could even picture Liang Xu’s expression while saying it.

With no face visible through the screen, Shi Lv couldn’t tell if X actually believed him. Feeling exposed, he clicked to sign off: "I’m going back to campus now. I need to prepare for class."

X: "Goodbye."

The next period was uneventful. When his first month’s salary arrived, Shi Lv kept only the essentials for living and used the rest to pay off his debts. But the previous owner’s debts were too massive—far from something that could be cleared in a month.

Shi Lv continued attending meetings with Liang Xu as the minute-taker. Meanwhile, the Coastal Real Estate project passed its final review and was about to launch. Flipping through the proposal, Shi Lv found it thorough and well-balanced. Yet every time he consulted Mr. X, the response was negative.

X: "If you have spare money, don’t invest in any stocks related to this project."

Shi Lv thought to himself that he had no spare money at all, but he obediently replied: "Okay."

Within half a month of the project funds being approved, trouble arose. Liang Xu had approved a tourism project, but rumors surfaced that the government was planning an industrial zone nearby. By the market’s close that day, New Leaf Group’s stock had dropped by one percent, dragging down several related companies—some even hitting the daily loss limit.

Shi Lv put away his phone, thinking that X’s prediction was spot-on.

Just then, System 66 pinged with a notification: "Su Zhu, please go to Zhenhai Hotel tonight to give the second temporary mark."

Exactly a month had passed—it was time for Shi Lv to perform the temporary mark for Secretary Zhang’s nephew.

66 emphasized: "Please remember, Su Zhu, the prevailing mood for tonight is: humiliation."

Being an Alpha who was summoned and dismissed by an Omega, his former self felt deeply ashamed.

But Shi Lv didn’t understand what there was to feel humiliated about. After preparing his outfit for the evening, he sent a message to Mr. X: "Mr. X, I’ll be arriving a bit late tonight."

X replied quickly: "I have a banquet tonight and won’t be online either."

Shi Lv: "Understood. I hope you enjoy the banquet—please drink more beverages and less alcohol."

X had once mentioned he disliked banquets, and Shi Lv had taken note.

"Don't worry," X added silently, "I won’t."

Tonight, he would neither drink nor enjoy himself.

The banquet was being held at the Ye family’s ancestral home.

Elder Ye demanded Liang Xu return to the old residence once a month, timing it precisely around the brink of his pheromone imbalance. It was unclear whether this was meant as a power play or warning, or simply a way to remind Liang Xu—through the physiological reactions of his glands—that he was marked as the Ye family’s property and should not dream of breaking free.

Zhang Ping stood nearby, handing Liang Xu a report. They weren’t at New Leaf Group’s headquarters, where constant surveillance cameras were everywhere, but at a café on Zhang Ping’s bustling street. They changed cafés each time, as if merely taking a coffee break from work.

Zhang Ping lowered his voice: "Boss, the numbers look good. This round, we're looking at at least this much." He gestured with his fingers.

Liang Xu flipped through the report: "Mm."

From the very beginning, Liang Xu had never considered New Leaf his own. Nor did he care about its losses. That was why he had dismissed Shi Lv’s repeated questions. His goal was to maintain a precarious balance—profiting without arousing Elder Ye’s suspicion.

Having dominated the business world for decades, Elder Ye was not easily deceived, even if his vision and mind were now failing. What Liang Xu was attempting was akin to walking a tightrope over a cliff. Failure meant complete destruction, with endless torment awaiting him. But if he succeeded…

Liang Xu looked out the window.

—If he succeeded, Liang Xu could claim what he deserved: freedom.

This was a booth on the second floor of the café, with a floor-to-ceiling window. Liang Xu reached out and touched the tempered glass. Beyond it, an unnamed bird perched on a tree branch, flapping its wings.

They faced no barriers.

As the time approached, Liang Xu returned to New Leaf Group, meticulously clearing his phone messages and changing into his most formal attire. He styled his hair with gel to keep sweat from showing. Only then did he rise.

Zhang Ping watched him with concern: "Boss."

Liang Xu was unbothered: "It’s fine. The groundwork has been laid. Elder Ye won’t suspect me over this."

In business, there were no permanent winners. Since this was a game, there would always be losers. Having led New Leaf Group for years with far more wins than losses, an occasional misstep would anger Elder Ye but wouldn’t shake Liang Xu’s position.

Zhang Ping: "But tonight’s banquet…"

Tonight’s banquet would undoubtedly be unpleasant.

Liang Xu said calmly: "The death penalty may be avoided, but not the punishment. It’s expected. I may not be free by ten. Have…" He paused, the name lingering on his tongue, "have Shi Lv wait. Book him an executive lounge on the 26th floor—he can order anything he likes. Once I’m in my room, he can come up."

Zhang Ping: "Got it."

At the entrance of New Leaf Group’s building, Qiao Si was already waiting.

The scar-faced old man stubbed out his cigarette and opened the car’s rear door: "Get in, Mr. Liang."

Liang Xu nodded politely and bowed slightly before entering the car.

What followed was all too familiar to Liang Xu—yet another round of Elder Ye’s veiled threats and pointed reminders. Though Liang Xu held the nominal title of executor at New Leaf Group, he had no actual equity in the board of directors. This maneuver had genuinely harmed Elder Ye’s interests. By the end, Liang Xu’s face was deathly pale, his shirt soaked in cold sweat, yet his soul seemed to hover above, detached from his own torment, watching it all with indifference.

Lowering his lashes, Liang Xu thought, *If everything goes according to plan, it won’t be long now.*

If all went smoothly, he wouldn’t just take over the Ye family’s empire—he would see Elder Ye dead.

As expected, tonight dragged on past ten o’clock.

It was nearly eleven when Liang Xu finally left the old mansion. He collapsed into his assistant’s car, pressing his feverish forehead against the seatback, fingers clutching desperately for even this meager relief from the leather upholstery.

Then, semi-conscious, he was taken to the suite at Zhenhai.

Zhang Ping maneuvered him onto the bed. Liang Xu didn’t even have the strength to remove his clothes. He heard his assistant’s voice, distant and muffled, as through frosted glass: *"Boss, I’ve called Mr. Shi. He’s in the executive lounge on the 26th floor—he’ll be up in a moment. Just hold on for two more minutes."*

With that, Zhang Ping turned off the light and left the room.

The light vanished, the door clicked shut, and absolute darkness engulfed him.

Liang Xu closed his eyes. In the blackness, only the sound of his ragged breathing remained.

He didn’t know how much time had passed—maybe minutes, maybe half an hour—before he heard the elevator doors open and the sound of Shi Lv’s footsteps.

He was approaching the room.

The fragrance of mountain rain wafting like morning mist seeped through every crevice of the door. Then, someone grasped the handle.

—*Click.*