Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Ugh, so mean!

After hanging up the phone, Ruan Shuyang pouted, grumbling softly to himself.

He thought Pei Siyue was truly mean.

Although, after learning that the person who saved him that day was Pei Siyue, he hadn't believed Pei Siming's description of him as ruthless, cold-blooded, and heartless, and had considered Pei Siyue a good person.

But today, he felt Pei Siyue was being a bit of a jerk, bullying him.

He thought to himself, feeling wronged, that if Pei Siyue asked him such questions again next time, he wouldn’t answer so truthfully.

However, Ruan Shuyang, who had just made this decision that morning, felt a pain in his stomach after waking from his nap.

The location and sensation of the pain were strange, as if a hand were tugging inside his lower abdomen. He had never felt this way before and wondered if it was a side effect of the treatment.

Although he had just decided not to be entirely forthcoming with Pei Siyue, he remembered his promise to report any physical changes during the treatment process.

This, too, should count as a physical change during treatment, and he needed to report it.

Ruan Shuyang sat on the bed, agonizing for a moment, before deciding to tell Pei Siyue.

He sent a message: After waking up from my nap today, I felt a bit of a stomachache.

Ruan Shuyang: It feels like there’s a hand tugging inside my lower abdomen, a sore pain.

A few minutes later, Pei Siyue called and asked calmly, "Is the pain severe?"

"Not severe," Ruan Shuyang replied. "It’s just a bit sore."

"Then bear with it for now," Pei Siyue said. "I’ll check what’s wrong tonight."

Pei Siyue seemed very busy on his end and hung up after saying this, leaving Ruan Shuyang no chance to mention anything else.

Tonight, he had other plans—Pei Siming was taking him to a banquet hosted by Ruiji Technology.

Wait, Ruiji Technology?

Suddenly, he wasn't so against going with Pei Siming anymore.

Before, he only went because he had no choice, living under someone else’s roof and being controlled. But now... he felt that going might not be such a bad thing.

**

Because he was attending the banquet with Pei Siming, Ruan Jianchuan took it very seriously. He specially ordered an outfit for the banquet for Ruan Shuyang and instructed him to follow Pei Siming’s arrangements, warning that he would face consequences if anything went wrong.

Ruan Shuyang agreed and used the fitting as an excuse to return to his room.

After Pei Siming made his decision that day, Ruan Shuyang had looked up Ruiji Technology.

Ruiji Technology was founded abroad ten years ago. With excellent product quality and design, along with attentive service, it quickly gained market share and became a leading giant in the medical industry overseas. Its main products include AO-related inhibitors, blocking patches, and some therapeutic drugs.

Five years ago, Ruiji Technology began entering the domestic market, partnering with the Chi family’s offline physical pharmacies to promote its products, achieving great success. It now holds an almost monopolistic position in areas like blocking patches and inhibitors, making it a giant in the medical industry. The market value of its domestic branch alone exceeds ten billion yuan.

Pei Siming, having been ousted from the Pei family, couldn’t openly interfere with the Pei family’s business. So, he wanted to start anew, with the medical and jewelry industries as his attempts. The best way to enter a new industry is to leverage an established player to get a piece of the pie, so he sought to cooperate with Ruiji Technology by investing in the new drugs they were developing.

At the time, based on the information, Ruan Shuyang thought it was a legitimate company, a large multinational corporation, which put him somewhat at ease. His only worry was being taken to some private location, so he decided to stay in the banquet hall, in crowded areas, and not follow Pei Siming to any secluded lounges.

At the very least, in public, Pei Siming wouldn’t dare to openly do anything to him or publicly force him, or it would surely become headline news the next morning.

Around four in the afternoon, while Ruan Shuyang was sitting in his room playing on his phone after changing clothes, he unexpectedly received a message from Chi Ye.

Chi Ye: Sorry, I couldn’t find out that person’s identity.

He didn’t know what was up with his older brother. As the owner of the club, he told him he couldn’t find out the person’s identity and advised him not to meddle. But since he couldn’t get his brother to talk, he had to find another way.

Chi Ye: I asked a doctor for you. The doctor said your condition could also be treated by pheromone extraction. I can help with the extraction, though the process might be painful.

Chi Ye: After all, you still have the enigma’s pheromones inside you.

During the treatment, it’s inevitable for the two types of pheromones to conflict. Although alpha pheromones are much weaker in quality than enigma pheromones, they can overwhelm by quantity, allowing the treatment to continue.

Ruan Shuyang was surprised when he saw the message. He didn’t expect Chi Ye to take it so seriously and even ask a doctor about alternative treatments. He quickly replied: Thank you, senior, but the problem has already been resolved.

Chi Ye: Resolved? How?

Ruan Shuyang: I ran into that enigma again. He’s really kind and agreed to help me with the treatment.

The enigma is very nice?

Chi Ye remembered his brother Chi Hang’s description of enigmas—only the word "dangerous," and he advised him to stay away and avoid dealing with them. He trusted Chi Hang’s judgment in this regard, so he was skeptical of Ruan Shuyang’s claim that the enigma was "very nice."

Chi Ye asked worriedly: Is there any danger? Did the other party mention any strange conditions?

There was one condition—to cooperate with providing treatment feedback. Ruan Shuyang didn’t think this was a strange condition; he treated it as participating in a clinical trial.

Not wanting Chi Ye to worry further, Ruan Shuyang said: There are no strange conditions. Everything is going smoothly now, senior. Don’t worry~

Chi Ye looked at the message on the screen and could only reply: Okay. If anything else comes up, let me know.

Ruan Shuyang: Okay!

Putting down his phone, he realized Chi Ye would be his senior at the university he was about to attend, and suddenly felt full of anticipation for college life.

It seemed like he could meet wonderful people in university.

Around five in the afternoon, Pei Siming came to the Ruan family to pick him up. His smile was, as always, refined and polite. If it were before, Ruan Shuyang would have been excited to see Pei Siming, but now he only wanted to stay away from him. However, he couldn’t, as Ruan Jianchuan pushed him toward Pei Siming.

Pei Siming took his hand, and Ruan Shuyang pulled back slightly, struggling gently. Pei Siming’s grip instantly tightened, his smile deep but not reaching his eyes.

Ruan Shuyang sensed danger and didn’t dare to struggle again.

After saying goodbye to Ruan Jianchuan, Pei Siming led Ruan Shuyang to the car. The driver was in front, the partition raised, and Ruan Shuyang sat in the back seat with Pei Siming.

Ruan Shuyang tried to squeeze himself into the corner. Seeing this, Pei Siming felt irritated.

Just last time, when he took him to the club, Ruan Shuyang had sat closely beside him, occasionally asking silly yet endearing questions.

But now he was keeping his distance.

He had only asked Ruan Shuyang to accompany Lu Zheng, and in the end, nothing even happened. He had never said anything about it, never blamed Ruan Shuyang for messing things up, and had even tried to make up for it afterward. So why was Ruan Shuyang still acting so resistant?

Just thinking about this made him even more frustrated.

Controlling his temper, he said, "Come sit here."

Ruan Shuyang strongly disliked moving closer, but seeing Pei Siming’s gloomy expression, he didn’t dare to stay put. He carefully inched his way over.

Before, he had thought Pei Siming was a modest and refined gentleman, but now he felt that modesty and refinement were just a mask, easily torn apart.

He shifted just a tiny bit and froze just before touching Pei Siming.

Pei Siming frowned at Ruan Shuyang, clearly displeased, and pulled him forcefully. The latter lost his balance and collided with Pei Siming's chest.

This was the first time Ruan Shuyang had been so close to Pei Siming. He felt extremely uncomfortable and struggled slightly, trying to break free, but Pei Siming's large hand clamped around his shoulder like an iron vice, making it impossible to escape.

Pei Siming was a genetically superior Grade-A Alpha, much stronger than an omega like him.

And with the close proximity, he could catch a faint scent of Pei Siming's pheromones—a very sharp, sour lemon scent.

Although they were engaged, Pei Siming had never seemed interested in getting close to him before. After their engagement, he had never touched him, never voluntarily shared his pheromones, and had never given him a mark—not even a temporary one.

Now, reflecting clearly, Ruan Shuyang realized that perhaps Pei Siming had never liked him from the start. If he actually liked him, why would he withhold his pheromones?

In the past, he had only caught a faint whiff of it when he occasionally got close to him. This time, having bumped against Pei Siming's chest and with their bodies pressed together more intimately than ever, he could clearly smell the sour lemon scent.

"You are my fiancé," Pei Siming said, looking down at Ruan Shuyang. "You don’t get to reject my advances."

At such close range, Ruan Shuyang suddenly noticed that Pei Siming did bear some resemblance to Pei Siyue—after all, they were biological brothers. But upon closer inspection, there were many differences.

Pei Siming appeared gentle and refined on the surface, but the longer you looked, the more he seemed gloomy.

Pei Siyue, on the other hand, seemed like an aloof and aristocratic man at first glance, but over time, one could sense the warmth and consideration hidden beneath his cool exterior.

Ruan Shuyang slowly lowered his head. He wanted to break off the engagement.

He just had to endure it until he moved out for university. Then, the Ruan family wouldn’t be able to restrict him anymore, and he could openly call off the engagement.

Fortunately, the car soon arrived at the venue for the evening banquet. Throughout the ride, Pei Siming did nothing more than hold him, though the close proximity left Pei Siming’s sour lemon scent lingering on his clothes and skin.

His scent gland was protected by a blocking patch, so the sour lemon scent didn’t seep into his body—it only clung to his clothes and skin.

As soon as Pei Siming's car entered the parking garage, Jiang Wu knocked on the door of the third-floor study and reported to Pei Siyue, "Young Master, Pei Siming and Ruan Shuyang have arrived."

Pei Siyue was handling official matters and didn’t even look up. "Have Liang Qiang host them, and bring along the omegas from the bar who agreed to join for drinks."

Jiang Wu instinctively asked, "And Ruan Shuyang?"

Pei Siyue lifted his gaze from the computer screen, his cold, piercing eyes locked on Jiang Wu.

Jiang Wu’s heart trembled, suddenly remembering that Pei Siyue disliked others prying into his thoughts.

Just as cold sweat broke out on his back and he tried to explain his earlier question, he heard Pei Siyue say:

"Have him brought to me."