Chapter 157: Grievance

Chapter 157: Wronged

Shi Lv walked to the bedside, intending to lift the person up as he had done last time. But before he could move, a body pressed against him.

Feverish, burning hot—yet when Shi Lv touched him, his back was drenched in cold sweat.

The body beneath his palm trembled violently. The condition of Special Assistant Zhang’s younger cousin was clearly worse than last time. He wrapped his arms around Shi Lv’s neck, nuzzling his face against Shi Lv’s shoulder and neck, sniffing his pheromones like a cat lapping cream.

Liang Xu had endured far too long.

The deliberate humiliation and forced restraint of the entire banquet, coupled with being made to consume numerous spicy and irritating foods, had brought him to the edge of breaking. Liang Xu’s lower lip was already bitten bloody. He clung tightly to Shi Lv, craving something but lost on how to seek it. In his frantic state, he only managed to undo a few buttons on Shi Lv’s shirt.

Shi Lv’s fingers found the back of his neck—burningly hot to the touch. The moment he made contact, the person in his arms trembled even more violently, like a kitten scruffed.

Generally, the first marking reaction was more intense, but Special Assistant Zhang’s younger cousin was clearly an exception. It was as if he had encountered some new stimulus, making the situation far more severe. Shi Lv had no choice but to soothe him carefully.

“Relax, relax,” he murmured softly. “Let me handle it. It’s okay. Let me.”

As he spoke, he released his pheromones. Shi Lv wasn’t entirely sure how to do it properly—he was just copying what he’d observed, trying to provide enough. In an instant, the room was filled with his pheromones, carrying the calming intent of an alpha, enveloping Liang Xu completely.

Shi Lv’s pheromones were much like himself—serene and peaceful, like expansive, tranquil mountains and forests, seemingly capable of embracing all faults.

Within this embrace, Liang Xu gradually calmed.

Once the muscles beneath his hands relaxed, Shi Lv leaned closer to the back of his neck and testingly sank his teeth in.

Pheromones flowed from his canines, entering the bloodstream and spreading throughout the body. The stiffness melted away, replaced by an overwhelming wave of exhaustion. Liang Xu went limp, no longer able to support himself.

His forehead was slick with sweat, dampening Shi Lv’s clothes. The back he held was also soaked through. Maintaining his embrace, Shi Lv reached for the tissue box on the bedside table and started dabbing him dry.

The tissues gently brushed over his forehead, then his jaw. Shi Lv was careful, as if afraid the fragile omega might be provoked again. But within this cautious tenderness, Liang Xu suddenly felt a swell of hurt.

It made no sense. He had already endured the hardest part. His body had settled, his limbs soft as if floating on clouds. He’d stayed composed all this time—yet now, Liang Xu felt miserable.

In the young intern’s arms, in the alpha’s pheromones, in Shi Lv’s tender care, Liang Xu suddenly realized he had suffered many grievances he should never have had to bear.

A quiet anguish, long buried behind a polite mask, caged by silver glasses and stiff suits, only now revealed the faintest trace in this suffocating darkness, in this moment of hormonal turmoil.

Shi Lv continued wiping away the sweat. The omega before him was drenched, as if pulled from water, drenching one tissue after another.

His movements were methodical—for a fragile omega, even the slightest change could be a trigger. So he petted him gently, like calming a skittish animal. But when the back of his hand brushed against the omega’s cheek, he paused.

A tiny wetness touched his hand.

The moisture rolled down his hand, quickly warmed and dried by body heat. Hesitating for a moment, Shi Lv raised his fingers to touch the other’s eyelashes.

The omega flinched back, but Shi Lv had already felt it.

Tears clung to his lashes, neither falling nor vanishing—so faint they barely existed unless one looked closely.

But he was indeed crying.

Perhaps “crying” wasn’t the right word. It was restrained, silent, just dampening his lashes without forming proper tears.

Shi Lv thought, *He must have suffered a lot.*

Only those who had suffered greatly would cry silently.

Shi Lv grew flustered. Though both were men, omegas counted as the opposite sex here—and aside from muddy childhood games with a girl next door, he’d never seen one cry before.

How to comfort a distressed Omega: he had absolutely no experience in this.

Shi Lv was completely flustered, stammering, "It's okay, don't feel bad anymore... the mark is done... Hey, don't cry."

Clueless and helpless, he floundered like a clueless college kid trying to console his sobbing girlfriend, left squatting awkwardly beside them, silent, unable to muster any sweet words.

If this were his actual girlfriend, he would have pulled her into a hug and listened to all her grievances.

But Liang Xu wasn’t.

He’d mostly pulled himself together by now. As the Junior Intern’s boss, a senior in the workplace, and an upperclassman at school, leaning on Shi Lv like this was way out of line.

So he retreated slightly, deliberately pulling away from the embrace. But the second he pulled away, his hormones screamed that he missed it already.

The Junior Intern’s scent was icy and clean, but his embrace was unnervingly solid. In that position, Liang Xu's nose brushed against Shi Lv's shoulder blade, and he could even hear the steady thump of his heartbeat.

Briefly, Liang Xu remembered that afternoon at the cat café—the carefree youth, his smile carrying the warmth of sunlight.

Youthful and vibrant—so alive with energy, something he had never truly experienced.

When their last point of contact faded, warmth fading from his arm, the two returned to a proper social distance. Liang Xu’s fingers twitched slightly, as if in reluctance, but he quickly masked it.

Shi Lv didn’t notice, of course.

In the darkness, the two sat in silence. After a long silence, Shi Lv hesitated, "Are... are you feeling better?"

He stammered out, "I... I might have to go soon. If it gets any later, my dorm will be locked."

C University’s dorms locked up at 11:30 PM, and it was already close to 11. Even if Zhang Ping drove him back now, it’d be too late.

Shi Lv hesitated. Ethically, he couldn’t abandon a distressed Omega with mental health issues alone in a room—that was inhumane. But if he didn’t leave now, he’d be sleeping on the streets.

Liang Xu slumped against the headboard, his voice grated like sandpaper. "It's too late. Have Zhang Ping arrange a room for you here."

"It’s not safe to leave at night. I’ll have someone take you back to campus tomorrow morning."

His voice was hoarse and deliberately subdued. Shi Lv didn’t place the voice but was startled nonetheless. "...You... you can talk?"

Liang Xu paused, frowning slightly. "...?"

—What did he mean, "you can talk"?

Shi Lv: "N-no, never mind."

Zhang Ping had warned his cousin had mental health problems and a tendency to bite people. Combined with the fact that the Omega hadn’t spoken during the first marking, Shi Lv had assumed he had a speech impairment.

Turns out, this cousin had his issues, but normal exchange was still possible.

"..."

Silence settled over the room again. After a while, Liang Xu suddenly asked, "Is the salary Zhang Ping offered you enough?"

The contract had been negotiated by Zhang Ping, and Liang Xu hadn’t been involved at all. Back then, he didn’t know Shi Lv and had only seen him as a pheromone provider. As long as Shi Lv agreed, Liang Xu hadn’t cared about the amount.

But now, things were different.

Liang Xu had gotten so little affection growing up that his attempts at kindness were clumsy. He could schmooze effortlessly in business, but with Shi Lv, after a moment’s hesitation, the only thing that came to mind was money.

Shi Lv flushed at the sudden kindness. "It’s enough, more than enough."

Just a simple mark, a bite on the neck for a hundred thousand—if this amount got out, people would definitely think he was offering full-service adult entertainment.

After exchanging a few polite words, Shi Lv got up to leave. As promised, Zhang Ping arranged a hotel room for him—a Presidential Suite on the 28th floor.

Zhang Ping led Shi Lv to the room, after checking his phone briefly, then spoke again. "Mr. Shi, I’d like to ask for one more thing."

Shi Lv: "Hmm?"

Zhang Ping: "Well... after the last treatment, my cousin... went to see a psychiatrist again. The doctor said his condition has improved somewhat, and interacting with you seems to help him relax. So, we’d like to ask if you could stay a little longer after marking him, maybe chat with him for a while. Would that be alright?"

He slid another contract across the table. "We’ll compensate you for your time—here’s the revised compensation."

Just as Shi Lv was about to break into a delighted expression again, System 66 weakly reminded him, "Host, your default emotional state is supposed to be 'humiliation.'"

Shi Lv took the contract and managed to contort his face into reluctant expressions. Just as Zhang Ping was starting to worry that Shi Lv had some bargaining power and was about to demand more, Shi Lv couldn’t suppress the grin spreading across his face. "Isn’t this... a bit too much?"

—A bite on the neck, some casual conversation, and the guy wasn’t even the violent psychopath he’d imagined—he seemed quite well-mannered. Less than an hour of work for this amount? How was Shi Lv supposed to feel humiliated? He couldn’t muster an ounce of it!

If an Alpha felt ashamed about being "kept" by an Omega, what did that have to do with Shi Lv, an ordinary Earthling?

66: "..."

The system gave up.

Zhang Ping processed payments monthly. The very next day after leaving the hotel, Shi Lv’s bank account showed the deposit. He immediately paid off a significant portion of his credit card debt and estimated that the original owner’s debts would be cleared soon.

He let out a long sigh of relief. With a little disposable income, he started considering renting a place nearby.

Commuting two hours each way between school and the city center was exhausting. Internships weren’t a sprint—they were a marathon. Before, without spare cash, Shi Lv had no choice but to stay on campus. Now that he had some breathing room, he could look for a place closer to work.

It was a day off, so with time to spare, Shi Lv went to a real estate agent, toured around seven or eight places near the company, and finally settled on one.

The apartment was somewhat shabby, but the location was good, and the price was right. Still wincing at the hefty rent he’d just paid, Shi Lv heard System 66 floating nearby, grumbling nonstop.

"Don’t rent a place, nooooo! You’re about to be recognized by your wealthy family!"

"A hillside villa! A waterfront mansion! The newly acknowledged heir of the Ye family!"

"Your future room will be way bigger and nicer than this!"

Unfortunately, Shi Lv couldn’t hear a word of it.

Watching helplessly as Shi Lv strayed further and further from the preset storyline, the system had nothing left to say.

Then, Shi Lv spotted a blood donation van by the roadside.

System 66 sprang back to life.

An electronic voice rang in Shi Lv’s mind, announcing a task: "Host, please complete a blood donation within 30 days."

"Note: Failure is not an option."