Chapter 2

Chapter 2

How deaf do you have to be to mistake "what a pity" for "no way"?

Yu Rong smiled to himself, thinking that Fan Sinian was, after all, still a child. No matter how mature he appeared, the sharp edge of youth occasionally broke through.

But he had no intention of exposing Fan Sinian. Instead, he played along, admitting his own poor hearing. After confirming Fan Sinian had completed the form, he let the matter drop and sent him back to class.

As a Beta, Yu Rong firmly believed that the bond between Alphas and Omegas wasn’t love, but rather an impulse driven by pheromones.

Under the sway of pheromones, 90% of an Alpha’s chosen mates would be Omegas. As for the remaining 10%? Well, people always had a rebellious streak against the rules.

As for Fan Sinian…

Yu Rong watched his retreating figure, shaking his head to dismiss his own utterly ridiculous speculation.

A 3S Alpha like him would only be more beholden to his powerful pheromones.

Fan Sinian had no idea how Yu Rong had pigeonholed him. After filling out the secondary gender differentiation survey, he promptly dismissed it from his mind, focusing instead on figuring out where Le Jiamu had chosen as his latest prime eavesdropping spot.

He gripped the office doorknob, pushing it open gently, and waited for the inevitable, obviously feigned "what a coincidence" greeting.

Just as Fan Sinian expected, Le Jiamu cleared his throat, uttered a "what a coincidence," and then let his gaze dart everywhere—as if trying to bore holes into the walls—yet stubbornly refused to meet Fan Sinian’s eyes.

His lie was painfully obvious.

Fan Sinian never let him off the hook, and this time was no exception: "No coincidence at all. Why aren’t you in class?"

Le Jiamu retorted, "I came to pick you up."

"Pick me up?" Fan Sinian said flatly. "Then you might as well take me to the hospital."

"Did something go wrong with your differentiation?" Le Jiamu tensed immediately, scrutinizing Fan Sinian from head to toe before grabbing his hand and attempting to drag him towards the infirmary.

Fan Sinian gripped Le Jiamu’s arm, remaining rooted to the spot, and sighed helplessly. "I’m fine."

"Then why did you say you needed to go to the hospital?" Le Jiamu didn’t release his hand, suspicious that Fan Sinian was lying to spare him worry.

Fan Sinian was, for once, speechless.

Le Jiamu was always so earnest, never able to discern when he was joking.

"What I meant," Fan Sinian finally said, a hint of defeat in his eyes, explaining to Le Jiamu, "was that if I couldn’t even find my way back to the classroom, I’d need to get my brain checked."

Le Jiamu released his hand in disgust. "That was a terrible joke."

Fan Sinian: "…"

It should have been funny, but someone just couldn’t get it without an explanation.

Having been through this too many times with Le Jiamu, Fan Sinian decisively changed the subject: "So, what did you hear just now?"

Le Jiamu glared at him. "You know I didn't hear anything—the office walls are made of A-grade soundproofing material. What could I possibly hear? That you’re actually an Alpha?"

Fan Sinian’s eyes flickered slightly before he calmly denied it. "That’s impossible."

Le Jiamu lazily put his arms behind his head. "Of course it is. Anyway, forget that. Next period is physiology. While you were gone, the class rep shared the study materials. I forwarded them to you—did you get them?"

Fan Sinian tapped the inconspicuous blue stud on his left earlobe, bringing up a virtual screen.

Sure enough, Le Jiamu had only sent him the Omega physiology materials.

Fan Sinian sighed softly. "You’re missing some."

Le Jiamu feigned ignorance. "Oh, so you did get them."

Fan Sinian wasn’t fooled. He cut straight to the chase: "Where are the Alpha and Beta materials?"

Before his differentiation, he’d simply studied whatever Le Jiamu gave him. But now that he’d differentiated as an Alpha, wouldn’t it be utterly ridiculous to know nothing about his own secondary gender?

"You’re an Omega. Why would you need Alpha and Beta materials?" Le Jiamu refused to provide them.

Fan Sinian rubbed his forehead. "The teacher said that even after differentiation, and confirming our secondary gender, we still need to learn about the other two. Why won’t you let me study them?"

Le Jiamu remained silent.

Fan Sinian stared at him for a while before giving in.

Fine. He’d just ask the homeroom teacher for the Alpha physiology materials later.

But Le Jiamu’s mood suddenly soured, even though Fan Sinian had already conceded.

During physiology class, for once, he didn’t disturb Fan Sinian, quietly studying Alpha physiology on his own.

Yet Fan Sinian found himself unable to concentrate precisely because of this unusual behavior.

"I’ll listen to you," Fan Sinian messaged Le Jiamu through his personal terminal.

After a long pause, Le Jiamu finally replied: "Do you think I’m being unreasonable?"

Fan Sinian: "No, I just want to know why."

Le Jiamu: "Oh. Well, I can’t tell you."

Fan Sinian: "…"

Now he did think Le Jiamu was being a little unreasonable.

Once assured that Fan Sinian didn’t truly think he was being difficult, Le Jiamu’s mood brightened considerably.

Though he always claimed Fan Sinian was the one he’d protected as he grew up, in truth, Fan Sinian had always been the one giving more in their relationship.

Influenced by his father, Colonel Le Hongguang, Le Jiamu wasn't one for subtleties—all his skills lay in brute strength.

Fan Sinian, on the other hand, was perceptive and sharp. Often, before Le Jiamu even realized he was upset, Fan Sinian would have already dispelled his irritation with a few well-chosen words.

Their families often said they were a perfect match, one of brains and the other of brawn.

Le Jiamu wholeheartedly agreed.

Which was why he’d raised Fan Sinian from the start to be his Omega.

Speaking of which… when was he finally going to differentiate?

Le Jiamu opened his personal terminal, wincing at the barrage of messages from Le Hongguang, who was furious that he’d refused to return to the hospital for another differentiation anomaly checkup.

What good would it do? Those doctors couldn’t even figure out what was wrong with him.

Le Jiamu shot back a blunt reply: "Not going."

Le Hongguang was free today. Seeing Le Jiamu reply, he immediately initiated a video call, disregarding the fact that it was class time.

What could be more important than his son's differentiation?

Le Jiamu muttered a curse and declined the call before the ringtone could fully sound, typing furiously: "Do you even know what time it is? Are you trying to get your son killed?"

Le Hongguang: "Just ask for leave, won’t you?"

Le Jiamu couldn’t be bothered to argue and simply sent him a "." before preparing to turn off his device.

However, the next message from Le Hongguang stopped him cold.

Le Hongguang: "The Mu family sent someone to see A Qi."

Le Jiamu: "Then I’ll ask for leave now."

Le Hongguang: "No need for that."

Le Jiamu: "? I don’t have time to waste on you."

Le Hongguang: "The reason I called earlier was that the Mu family is renowned for their medical expertise. They heard you haven’t differentiated yet and said they could check what’s wrong. But right now, A Qi is crying in the arms of one of their elders, so they probably won’t have time for you."

Le Jiamu: "...That’s rude. That ‘elder’ is probably your father-in-law."

Le Hongguang: "Whatever. A Qi’s been missing for so many years, and they only just remembered to look for him. They don’t deserve my respect."

Le Jiamu: "Maybe they had their reasons."

Le Hongguang: "Oh, they did. The Mu family has been in seclusion for years. Some time ago, Emperor Mackintosh somehow smoked them all out and forced them to serve the empire. The Mu family, having been disconnected from society for so long, couldn't get their footing in District A. Then they remembered there was still a descendant of theirs out in the world—one who seemed to have good fortune, married to Colonel Le, the emperor’s most trusted officer. Wouldn’t they want to take advantage of that? So now they’re pulling this family reunion stunt at our place."

Le Jiamu: "..."

He took back what he’d said earlier. His father did understand a bit more about these convoluted politics than he did.

But—

Le Jiamu: "Is that just your assumption, or...?"

Le Hongguang replied as if it were obvious: "Unlike you, I’m not in class messing around on my device, afraid of getting caught. I couldn’t be bothered to type, so I was going to send a voice message, but I figured you might not be able to listen to it. So I used speech-to-text. How’s that? Your dad's thoughtful, isn't he?"

Le Jiamu felt as if his native language had somehow changed. He could already imagine the priceless expressions on the faces of the Mu family members currently holding his little father as he cried: "From now on, stick to texting. Otherwise, I won’t talk to you."

Le Hongguang didn’t argue with his son: "Fine."

With their conversation back to being private, Le Jiamu relaxed: "With that attitude, are you sure the Mu family will still check why my differentiation is abnormal?"

Le Hongguang: "They will, because they need something from me."

Le Jiamu: "...Alright."

Being powerful and influential truly was something.

But if the Mu family only intended to use his little father, how heartbroken would he be? His little father had never given up searching for the Mu family all these years.

Even when every lead went cold, his little father stubbornly believed the Mu family had their reasons for not coming for him.

Le Hongguang must have picked up on his son’s thoughts and sent: "Don’t worry about A Qi. He has us now. Even if the Mu family doesn’t value him, it changes nothing. He’s crying because he thought he’d never see his family again. Don’t you remember? A Qi is strong."

Le Jiamu’s eyes darkened: "I haven’t forgotten."

Le Hongguang: "Anyway, come home early after school today. The Mu family will try to fish for more leverage over me by working the conversation and pumping A Qi for info. I’ve already told A Qi to keep talking with them until you get back."

Le Jiamu replied with an "Okay" and ended the communication.

Fan Sinian, who'd been observing, immediately asked, "What’s wrong? What happened?"

Le Jiamu glanced at him: "I didn’t revoke your access to my screen this time."

Fan Sinian paused, then said, "You were talking with Colonel Le. I shouldn’t look."

Le Jiamu leaned back in his chair, resting against it, and said indifferently, "Why not? It’s not like he was discussing military secrets with me. Whatever, you and your weird hang-ups. But it’s no big deal—just that the Mu family sent someone to see my little father."

"The famous medical Mu family?" Fan Sinian frowned.

Le Jiamu let out a humorless laugh: "Yeah, that Mu family. Before, when my little father told people he was from the Mu family, no one believed him. After marrying my father, he didn’t have to keep proving who he was anymore. And now, the Mu family suddenly comes crawling back. Isn’t that rich?"

Before marrying into the Le family, Mu Qi had endured considerable hardship. But Le Hongguang, to help his partner escape those nightmares, had erased all traces of the past, forbidding anyone from mentioning it.

Fan Sinian had heard snippets of the story. He quietly studied Le Jiamu for a moment before changing the subject: "Then, could the Mu family check what’s wrong with your differentiation?"

Le Jiamu was silent for a while before saying, "They could. But I don’t want their help."