Chapter 160: Incident

Chapter 160: Unforeseen Incident

Liang Xu's eyes shimmered wetly, his deep amber pupils losing focus. The scent of Green Bamboo Wine grew so cloyingly sweet it was nearly overwhelming. He stared at Shi Lv with an expression twisted in pleasure and pain, as if overwhelmed by intense stimulation. By the end, even the whites of his eyes rolled slightly upward—like, like...

Like he had been completely wrecked.

Shi Lv snapped awake.

He sat up abruptly, tugging at his hair in frustration before stumbling out of bed. He turned on the shower in the bathroom, letting cold water pour over his head. Five minutes later, his flushed skin returned to its usual pale coolness, and his heavy panting gradually steadied.

Leaning against the mirror, Shi Lv took a deep breath. Staring at his messy reflection, he cursed under his breath, "Damn it, Shi Lv, are you some kind of scumbag? An erotic dream is one thing, but dreaming about three people at once? And of all people, these three?"

One was a helpless omega who needed pheromone therapy, another was X—a mentor and friend who had helped him greatly in his career—and the last was his handsome, wealthy boss. Ethically and morally, none of them should have been the subjects of Shi Lv's fantasies.

The young man in college collapsed back onto the bed, pulling the covers over his head, and searched under the blankets: "What does it mean to dream about the wrong people in an erotic dream?"

The first answer read: "Buddy, you’ve got a crush."

Shi Lv frowned. "How is that possible?"

He had never even seen the omega’s face, his relationship with X was purely platonic, and as for Liang Xu—their statuses were poles apart. Shi Lv wouldn’t dare harbor secret feelings for his boss even if he had ten times the courage.

He swiped away the answer. "Absolutely impossible."

Yet when X’s profile flashed through his mind, and the image of Liang Xu’s silver eyeglass chain dangling in his mind’s eye surfaced, Shi Lv felt a twinge of guilt.

He quickly scrolled past, checking the next answer.

Most responses were jokes or teasing remarks. After skipping dozens, Shi Lv finally found a plausible one.

"Could be due to consuming libido-boosting or stamina foods, leading to pent-up energy. Check your recent diet."

Shi Lv pondered briefly.

Lately, he’d eaten nothing unusual—except for the seafood spread at lunch.

With a serious expression, he searched again: "Seafood with virility-boosting effects."

As everyone knew, claims of "boosting virility" were as flexible as bricks—much like "beauty and skincare" for women—tacked onto any product for marketing. Merchants would stick the label on anything remotely edible to boost sales. Shi Lv’s search yielded over seventy results.

He wasn’t one to believe such claims, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Aside from this, he had no other explanation. And sure enough, he found a match.

"Of course—sea cucumber, oysters, geoduck…"

He had eaten all of them at lunch.

Shi Lv covered his face.

—No wonder he dreamed about Liang Xu. It was all because of that seafood.

A boss who wandered over to an intern’s desk and insisted on sharing his lunch—obviously, Liang Xu was to blame.

It was all Liang Xu’s doing.

With a reasonable excuse in mind, Shi Lv turned off his phone and tried to sleep. But a nagging unease kept him from resting soundly, causing him to wake repeatedly. By the next workday, he was rocking two huge dark circles under his eyes.

A colleague jumped in surprise: "Shi Lv, what's wrong with you?"

Shi Lv gave a dry laugh and shifted the blame to the ginger cat at home: "The cat was too rowdy, jumping around all night. I didn't sleep well."

In reality, the ginger cat was quieter than most kittens. Shi Lv had even given it extra meat, hoping it would be more active.

That day, Liang Xu came to Group Four as usual and, just like the day before, taught Shi Lv how to operate the system. Leaning over the computer, the heavy scent of Green Bamboo Wine enveloped him, and Shi Lv kept his head low, eyes fixed on the screen, not daring to glance at Liang Xu even once.

...He was afraid—afraid that seeing Liang Xu's face would remind him of yesterday's dream, that face caught between pain and pleasure.

Shi Lv pressed his legs together and scooted forward a little.

Behind him, Liang Xu frowned slightly.

The office chair wasn’t large, and Shi Lv, tall and long-limbed, was now trying to shrink himself, occupying only a tiny space as if trying to put distance between them.

Moreover, during their interactions the day before, Shi Lv had occasionally turned to look at him, showing admiration and moments of realization. Each time, Liang Xu had felt a subtle sense of pride. But now, the junior intern sat there like a quiet little mushroom, staring at the computer the entire time, without exchanging a single word with Liang Xu.

What had gone wrong in just one day?

Liang Xu’s brow twitched, but he quickly masked it, putting some subtle distance between them as he continued explaining, just like any senior guiding a junior.

As the scent of Green Bamboo Wine faded, Shi Lv let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Liang Xu noticed his reaction but said nothing.

At noon, Liang Xu invited Shi Lv to lunch again. Unable to refuse, Shi Lv followed him into the small break room.

But this time, when Liang Xu brought out the food containers, Shi Lv hesitated to eat.

Still haunted by the memory, he pushed his rice around, eyeing Liang Xu’s sea cucumber, oysters, and geoduck with some resentment.

Liang Xu’s frown deepened.

The same scene, the same people—why were the reactions so different over two days?

They ate in silence, only exchanging a few obligatory remarks about work. Liang Xu walked Shi Lv out, already planning to ask the junior intern later, as X, if something was troubling him.

Unaware of his boss’s inner turmoil, Shi Lv only felt that his performance over the past two days had been terrible, embarrassing himself in front of the big boss. A pink slip seemed inevitable. Combined with his lack of sleep, he was completely worn out.

Just then, his phone buzzed with a new message.

Song Yi: "That fake boyfriend job you applied for a while back got approved. There’s a short holiday coming up, and the omega chose you immediately from your photo. You still want this side gig?"

Song Yi was his roommate, the one who always wore headphones.

Shi Lv had almost forgotten about it. Thinking about his credit card balance, he replied, "I’ll take it."

His mind buzzing with distractions, Shi Lv hoped keeping busy would keep his mind from wandering.

Song Yi sent back an "OK" emoji: "Then I’ll pass your contact to the omega."

Shi Lv: "Got it."

He hurried through dinner, organized his work questions, and messaged X, waiting for a reply.

Thanks to Liang Xu’s help these past few days, there were fewer questions for X, but some details still required clarification—things Shi Lv was too hesitant to discuss with Liang Xu.

X answered patiently as usual. After exchanging a few pleasantries and small talk, Shi Lv was about to say goodnight when X suddenly asked, "Shi, has something happened recently? You don't seem quite yourself."

Shi Lv was startled, thinking, "How can he even tell?"

He felt a bit guilty since X was also one of the subjects of his fantasies—something he definitely couldn’t admit. He vaguely replied, "...I'm fine, but Ginger hasn’t been doing well lately. I plan to take it to the vet this weekend to check if there’s anything wrong."

Ginger was a kitten adopted from a cat café, given to Shi Lv by the owner. It had always been lively since being adopted, but these past two days, it seemed lethargic and low on energy. Shi Lv tried switching its food, but there wasn’t much improvement, so he decided to take it for a checkup over the weekend.

X: "Would you like me to recommend a vet? There are a few top-notch ones in Haicheng."

X seemed to have extensive connections in Haicheng—the doctors he recommended were among the best, with consultation fees that would cost Shi Lv two months' worth of meals.

Shi Lv hesitated for a moment. "It’s probably just having trouble adjusting to the seasonal change. I’ll take it to a nearby clinic first. If there’s a serious issue, I’ll take you up on that then."

"Mm," X replied.

On the other side of the screen, Liang Xu paused briefly before typing again: "Shi, don’t be polite. Ginger is also my kitten. If you need anything, feel free to ask me anytime."

From a purely online friendship perspective, this sentence carried a hint of ambiguity.

Unless they were family or lovers, how could someone refer to another person’s kitten as their own?

Shi Lv also felt a little awkward but assumed X didn’t mean anything by it—after all, X often bought food and toys for Ginger. He murmured an acknowledgment and changed the subject. "Mr. X, you’ve bought so much for my little one—have you ever thought about getting a cat yourself?"

X seemed to adore Ginger but had never shown any intention of owning a pet.

On the other end of the screen, Liang Xu fell silent. He lowered his gaze, a wry, self-deprecating smile tugging at his lips.

As long as Elder Ye lived, his own life remained shackled—how could he take responsibility for another fragile life?

X replied: "Due to some circumstances, I can’t keep one for now. I’ll just enjoy virtual cat time through you for the time being."

Shi Lv: "Alright, enjoy your virtual cat time~"

He sent a cute sticker, bid X goodnight, and logged off.

Shi Lv initially thought it was a minor issue that would resolve after the weekend checkup, but he didn’t expect things to take a turn for the worse that very night.

As he slept, Ginger let out faint, raspy meows beside him, its breathing quick and shallow, clearly in distress.

Shi Lv turned on the light and picked up the kitten to examine it. When his fingers touched its belly, he froze.

The cat’s abdomen was swollen, its body trembling slightly.

...Fluid buildup?

This was an extremely dangerous condition—it was often fatal without prompt treatment. For the kitten to go from loss of appetite to abdominal swelling in just two days, it had to be acute fluid buildup.

By now, the kitten was curled up in pain, its ears flat against its head. Its golden-brown eyes kept darting to Shi Lv, as if pleading for help.

Shi Lv wasted no time. He quickly bundled the kitten into its carrier and bolted out the door.

Grabbing his phone, he dialed the nearest veterinary clinic.

It was late at night—the clinic had long since closed. His only option was to call and ask if they could arrange an emergency appointment for an extra fee.

But the phone kept ringing with no answer.

Shi Lv had to try a farther clinic. Every second counted now—his hands shook slightly as he dialed. Yet when the call connected, after dozens of seconds, it went to voicemail.

"Sorry, the number you dialed is not answering. Please try again later..."

Shi Lv had only saved these few clinic numbers. Pet hospitals were already scarce to begin with, and apart from these, the others were all located in another district, which meant crossing half of Haicheng. Gripping his phone, he was at a complete loss for a moment.

Seeing the kitten in the carrier grow weaker by the minute, Shi Lv gritted his teeth and opened BlueBlue, initiating a voice call with X.

Texting now would take too long—X had likely already gone to bed and wouldn’t see it until the next morning. A voice call was his only option.

Shi Lv had heard stories of online friends losing interest after meeting in person or video chatting, and he knew X was busy with work. Bothering him this late was undeniably rude and pushy, but...

But right now, he truly didn’t know what else to do.

This was his first kitten, and he had promised the shop owner he would take good care of it.

As BlueBlue’s overly cheerful ringtone played, Shi Lv closed his eyes.

*Please pick up.*

After three rings, the call connected, and a slightly hoarse male voice answered, “Hello?”

His voice was thick with sleep.

“...X,” Shi Lv lowered his gaze and spoke quickly, “Sorry to bug you this late, but the kitten is in trouble. I’ve called every vet nearby, but no one’s picking up. Can you contact a vet right now?”

After speaking, he gripped his phone, waiting for X’s response.

They were just online friends—no real-life connection—and it was the middle of the night. If X said no, Shi Lv was out of options.

But then came the sound of fabric rustling—X was getting dressed.

His voice came through the receiver, steady and calm, with a natural ability to soothe: “Don’t worry. I’ll handle it. Go downstairs now—I’m coming to pick you up.”

Shi Lv clutched the carrier, lips pressed tight. "...Okay."