Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"But where can I go if I move out?" Ruan Shuyang murmured.

T University hadn't started yet, and he had nowhere else to go.

He felt useless—he still hadn't found a job to make money.

Pei Siyue reached out and gently stroked Ruan Shuyang's cheek, asking in a low voice, "Would you like to live with me?"

Ruan Shuyang looked at Pei Siyue with great surprise, clearly having never considered this option before.

Brought up so suddenly, Ruan Shuyang couldn't process it right away, his expression full of confusion.

Pei Siyue didn’t press further, only saying, "Come stay with me for now."

The Pagani Zonda drove out of the parking lot and headed toward Lán'àn Yùtíng.

Ruan Shuyang was lost in thought, pondering the future. By the time he came back to himself, the car had already arrived at Pei Siyue's place and parked.

He wasn’t very good at opening the Pagani Zonda’s scissor doors, so Pei Siyue opened it for him and also helped unbuckle his seatbelt.

Ruan Shuyang got out of the car with Pei Siyue, looked at the familiar white villa in front of him, and followed Pei Siyue inside.

After entering, Pei Siyue turned on the lights in the villa, turned to him, and said to Ruan Shuyang, "After Ruan Qi wakes up, Jiang Wu will take him to the hospital for a check-up and arrange for him to stay at the hospital for a few days. You don’t need to worry about Ruan Qi during this time. You can think things over calmly and make a decision."

Ruan Shuyang stood at the entrance of the villa, a bit awkwardly saying, "Thank you."

Pei Siyue took him upstairs and led him to the guest room where he had stayed once before.

"You’ll stay here tonight. Let me know if you need anything."

"Okay," Ruan Shuyang replied, lowering his head. "I don’t need anything."

Pei Siyue just nodded and turned to go downstairs.

Ruan Shuyang stood in the guest room he had stayed in once before, feeling a bit lost, but in a place filled with Pei Siyue's pheromones, he instinctively felt very at ease.

A moment later, Pei Siyue came upstairs, brought him a cup of hot milk and placed it on the bedside table, then left to get him a set of clothes.

"These are clothes I had Ji Huai prepare last time. No one has worn them."

Ruan Shuyang touched the fabric of the clothes and asked curiously, "Is this also from AETHOS?"

Pei Siyue nodded. "Yes."

Ruan Shuyang thought about the story behind AETHOS and couldn’t help but smile.

It was the first smile he had shown since hearing about what happened to Ruan Qi earlier that night.

Although the AETHOS brand had brought him some trouble, the outcome had been good in the end.

He said to Pei Siyue very sincerely, "Thank you."

Pei Siyue ruffled his hair, said nothing more, turned, and left, leaving Ruan Shuyang alone.

Ruan Shuyang sat alone on the bed, feeling very confused about the future.

Moving out of the Ruan family was something he had always wanted to do but couldn’t due to various reasons.

Before, he was underage, had no other relatives, and no money.

Now he was an adult, but he still had no money and no place to go.

Pei Siyue had suggested he move out and live together.

Could he really do that?

But he doubted he could even afford rent, let alone living expenses. He wondered if he would end up hungry.

Ruan Shuyang thought with worry.

He sat on the edge of the bed for a while, then decided to shower and get ready to rest.

As for whether the Ruan family would find out about what happened today or how they would react when they realized he hadn’t returned, he didn’t want to think about it.

Staying at Pei Siyue’s place made him feel secure, and he felt unexpectedly willful, as if no matter what he did, someone would have his back.

He put on his pajamas, lay down on the bed, and pulled up the guest bedroom comforter. At first, he thought he would need to think about the future, but he fell asleep not long after.

He dreamed about the past.

When he was young, Ruan Qi snatched his textbook, holding it and his backpack high above his head, forcing him to kneel, or else he would tear the textbook and throw away the backpack.

Ruan Shuyang was afraid he would really tear it, so he had no choice but to kneel, crying and begging Ruan Qi.

The next moment, the dream shifted. He was a bit older, taken by Pan Lan to a golf course to accompany Ruan Qi playing golf.

Ruan Qi maliciously hit golf balls at Ruan Shuyang, laughing when he saw him cry in pain, then deliberately threw the ball far away and made him run to retrieve it, scolding him if he ran too slowly.

Then, at the equestrian facility, Ruan Qi forced him to sit on a tall horse and deliberately whipped the horse’s hindquarters and his legs with a riding crop.

The horse, startled, began to run. If it weren’t for the staff at the equestrian facility helping, he might have broken his neck.

...

At the end of the dream, Ruan Qi was kicked to the ground by Chi Ye, and Pei Siyue broke both of Ruan Qi’s arms, making him scream in pain.

Pei Siyue walked over, held him, and comforted him, saying everything was alright.

...

When he woke again, daylight was streaming in.

Ruan Shuyang sat up in bed, holding the blanket, his expression somewhat dazed.

Last night, he seemed to have had a dream—dreamed of Ruan Qi bullying him, then Chi Ye and Pei Siyue avenging him, and Pei Siyue holding him to comfort him...

The beginning of the dream was very oppressive. Ruan Shuyang didn’t want to recall those nightmarish times, but by the end, the dream seemed to become sweet and comforting.

Pei Siyue’s embrace always made him feel exceptionally secure, as if as long as he was held by him, all his worries would disappear.

He was becoming more and more dependent on Pei Siyue, Ruan Shuyang thought. Was it an omega’s instinctive dependence on the one who marked him?

He sat on the bed for a while, then got up to wash up, changed into the clothes Pei Siyue had given him the night before, and opened the door.

Downstairs in the living room, he saw Pei Siyue drinking coffee. When Pei Siyue saw him come down, he put down his coffee cup and said, "Time for breakfast."

Ruan Shuyang followed him to the dining room and saw tuna sandwiches, yogurt, and fruit set on the table.

He sat down and took a bite of the sandwich. The bread was perfectly crispy, and the tuna filling was delicious.

He took a sip of water and asked Pei Siyue, curious, "Where did you buy the sandwich? It's really good."

Pei Siyue just looked at him, not saying a word.

Then he grew even more surprised.

"Did you... make this?"

Pei Siyue nodded.

Ruan Shuyang's face turned red in an instant, and he stammered out, "Th-thank you."

He was staying at Pei Siyue's house, so he should have been the one cooking for him. Instead, as soon as he woke up, the other man had already prepared breakfast and was waiting to eat with him.

He shouldn't have overslept...

But he hadn’t really overslept either—he got up just after eight in the morning. Pei Siyue really got up early. It made him feel pressured.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, head hanging. "I should have gotten up early to make breakfast for you."

"No need to apologize," Pei Siyue said first, then asked Ruan Shuyang, "What time do you usually wake up in the morning?"

"During school, around six. When I'm not in school, it depends on whether I need to make breakfast."

If Pan Lan made him make breakfast, he still had to get up around six. If he didn’t need to make breakfast, he could sleep until past seven, and if he was lucky enough not to be disturbed, he could sleep until past eight.

Just like now.

Pei Siyue watched Ruan Shuyang eating breakfast quietly. His mouth was small, so he could only take small bites of the sandwich at a time. He ate delicately, and occasionally, when he encountered large pieces of vegetables in the sandwich, he would frown like a child.

Ruan Shuyang was only eighteen this year—he really was still a child.

Calmly, he told him, "From now on, if you live here, you can sleep in as much as you want."

Ruan Shuyang was still uncomfortable about the possibility of living with Pei Siyue and quickly changed the subject. "Then what time do you wake up every morning?"

Pei Siyue noticed Ruan Shuyang's shyness at the mention of living together and felt a playful impulse. He deliberately asked, "Why aren’t you calling me?"

Ruan Shuyang’s mind didn't get it. "Calling you?"

Pei Siyue reminded him, "What did you call me last night?"

Ruan Shuyang’s face instantly flushed bright red, like a sunset blooming across his cheeks. He remembered what he had called him last night.

At the time, it had been impulsive, and he had been too embarrassed to think about it since. Now, sitting across from him with Pei Siyue over breakfast in the morning, he really felt too shy to say it.

But wouldn’t it be impolite and disrespectful to not address someone properly when talking to them?

He didn’t want to disrespect Pei Siyue. After working up his nerve for a moment, he mustered his courage and stammered, "G-gege."

Pei Siyue’s gaze darkened, and his throat bobbed.

If Ruan Shuyang lived with him and called him "brother" so obediently every day, he wasn’t sure how long he could hold himself back.

Ruan Shuyang felt that Pei Siyue’s expression changed slightly after he called him that—deeper, but not coldly so. It didn’t make him feel scared; on the contrary, it felt like he was completely caught in his gaze.

Feeling uneasy, he turned away and asked softly, "Did I say it wrong?"

Otherwise, why did Pei Siyue’s gaze seem so strange?

"No," Pei Siyue replied immediately. "You got it right. Very good."

Ruan Shuyang pouted a little. He was already an adult, but around Pei Siyue, he always felt like a child.

"I wake up at 5:30 every morning," Pei Siyue continued, returning to the earlier question. "It’s better if I make breakfast."

5:30?

Ruan Shuyang was speechless. How could anyone wake up that early? Even on school days, he rarely got up at 5:30.

He asked curiously, "Aren’t you tired waking up so early?"

Pei Siyue shook his head. "Enigmas have much better energy and stamina than ordinary people. I’ve always woken up at this time."

But it wasn’t without its costs.

The pheromones granted enigmas their top position in the pyramid—exceptional intelligence, physical strength, and energy. Their pheromones were extraordinarily abundant.

Because of this, if their emotions fluctuated too drastically, or if pheromones accumulated in their bodies triggering a sensitive period or pheromone chaos, it would be harder to handle and more dangerous than an alpha’s sensitive period.

But Pei Siyue had always kept it under control well and had never experienced any pheromone-related issues.

"That’s amazing."

Ruan Shuyang admired Pei Siyue a lot. "I can’t wake up that early."

He could never get up at 5:30 in the morning. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to help Pei Siyue prepare breakfast.

Pei Siyue told him, "No need to wake up that early. You’re still growing. You should sleep more."

Ruan Shuyang wanted to say that he was past the age of growing, but then he remembered his newly developed gland and reproductive tract—it seemed like he really was still growing.

Breakfast was soon over. Pei Siyue had to go to work and said to Ruan Shuyang, "I’ll have Ji Huai come over to stay with you. He can drive, so if you want to go anywhere, just let him know."

Ruan Shuyang obediently replied, "Okay."

After Pei Siyue left, Ji Huai arrived quickly. After asking Ruan Shuyang and learning that he had no plans to go out for now, he went into the kitchen to make some tasty snacks for him.

**

Ruan Qi blacked out and slept, only waking up a little after seven the next morning. When he woke up, he felt pain all over his body, especially around his shoulders, which were burning badly. He suspected both shoulders were broken, but when he tried to move them, they still worked.

He sat up in bed, not knowing where he was, and started yelling for help.

An attendant waiting outside the door heard him shouting and immediately knocked and entered, asking first, "Mr. Ruan, how are you feeling?"

"Everything hurts!" Ruan Qi yelled angrily. "This is assault and abuse! Call my parents! I’m calling the police! I want the police!"

The attendant replied without expression, "Mr. Ruan, please wait a moment. I’ll go get someone."

After a while, Chi Hang’s secretary, Su Yan, entered the room with Jiang Wu.

After all, Chi Ye was also involved in the beating, so Chi Hang didn’t leave everything to Pei Siyue to handle and had also left a secretary there to assist.

Su Yan walked in with a polite, professional smile and asked, "Mr. Ruan, how are you feeling now?"

"Terrible!" Ruan Qi shouted. "I want to see my parents! I’m calling the police!"

"You can call the police," Jiang Wu said politely, standing beside Su Yan. "That’s every citizen’s legal right. However, if you call the police, they will collect all the surveillance footage from the scene. The things you said earlier about abusing omegas and bullying omegas at school will also be heard by the police. How this matter will be handled then, we cannot guarantee."

Although Ruan Qi was arrogant, hot-tempered, and acted superior to everyone, he wasn't a fool. He immediately understood the underlying meaning in Jiang Wu's words.

As a socially vulnerable group, the government has introduced many policies to protect omegas, particularly restricting alphas from bullying omegas.

While psychological abuse and control are hard to prove, if an alpha is found physically abusing an omega, they would be immediately arrested, detained, and sentenced based on the severity of the offense.

Ruan Qi's bluster faded a bit, but he still insisted defiantly, "I was just shooting my mouth off. You can't find any evidence."

Jiang Wu didn't debate whether evidence could be found and simply said, "Would you like to settle this privately? We can arrange for you to be hospitalized immediately for a comprehensive physical examination. If there are any issues, we'll treat them right away. If not, you can still rest in the hospital for a few days. How does that sound?"

Ruan Qi found himself following Jiang Wu's train of thought and felt it might be a good idea, but he replied in a challenging tone, "I want to go to the best hospital and get the full range of tests—the more comprehensive, the better."

Jiang Wu's smile grew broader as he agreed, "Don't worry, we'll definitely arrange a full set of tests."

Su Yan added, "Mr. Ruan, we will arrange for you to be examined at the main hospital of Ruiji Hospital, affiliated with Ruiji Technology, and we will also inform your parents. Please rest assured."

Although Ruan Qi had never been to Ruiji Hospital, he had heard people praise it for its excellent environment, service, and highly skilled doctors. The only downside was the high cost.

At that moment, Ruan Qi felt that the higher the cost, the better—it would be a perfect opportunity to bleed them dry.

But at the time, Ruan Qi had no idea what a comprehensive medical examination actually involved.

When Ruan Qi was taken to the hospital, Ruan Jianchuan and Pan Lan hurried over.

Ruan Jianchuan immediately asked what had happened. Upon hearing that Ruan Qi had been beaten, though he couldn't understand why Ruan Qi had provoked someone, he saw it as an opportunity to potentially settle privately for extortion.

However, when he learned that the surveillance footage had captured Ruan Qi admitting to abusing omegas and being involved in school bullying, he had to abandon the idea of extortion. Instead, he turned his anger on Ruan Qi, scolding him for being undisciplined and reckless with his words, and utterly foolish.

Pan Lan, on the other hand, felt sorry for Ruan Qi and demanded an immediate and thorough physical examination.

The doctor at Ruiji Hospital handed over a list of examination items. Pan Lan saw that it was extremely detailed, including bronchoscopy, un-anesthetized gastroscopy and colonoscopy, urodynamic testing, lumbar puncture, anal digital examination, and proctoscopy, among others. She found it very comprehensive and had Ruan Qi sign.

Ruan Qi also thought the list was thorough and signed.

The nurse first took him to have blood drawn—not only venous blood but also arterial blood.

Arterial blood was drawn using an extremely thin needle inserted into the artery. Ruan Qi went pale with pain and struggled desperately, but two strong male beta nurses held him down.

One of the male nurses explained while restraining him, "Mr. Ruan, you're getting an arterial blood draw right now. Please don't move. If you struggle and the needle nicks the artery, you might need surgery to suture it and stop the bleeding."

Terrified, Ruan Qi immediately stopped moving.

After finally finishing the blood draw, he thought the worst was over, only to be wheeled off for urodynamic testing.

The name of the test didn't clue him in to what it involved. Ruan Qi thought it would be as simple as urinating, but once inside, he realized it was more terrifying than getting his shoulders dislocated.

As soon as he entered, the male nurses removed all his lower garments and laid him on the hospital bed. The doctor came over, glanced at him, and said his top was too constricting, so it had to be removed as well.

Thus, Ruan Qi lay naked on the bed, wearing only a pair of black socks on his feet—a ridiculous sight.

Next, his limbs were restrained at the wrists and ankles. Shocked and furious, he demanded, "What are you doing?"

The doctor calmly explained, "We're restraining you to keep you from struggling. It will make the procedure easier."

Ruan Qi: ???

What kind of nonsense was this? It was just an exam—why would he struggle?

But later, he realized he had been way too green. He had no idea that hospital examinations could be so brutal, leaving you in too much pain to even cry.

The doctor soon brought in an IV pole with two hanging bottles and told Ruan Qi it was saline.

Then, the male doctor put on disposable medical gloves, sterilized them, and disinfected Ruan Qi. He unwrapped several packages containing tubes of various sizes. Picking up a soft tube about five millimeters in diameter and over a meter long, he lifted Ruan Qi's front and quickly inserted it.

The room instantly filled with screams.

Pan Lan, waiting outside, grew anxious upon hearing the cries. She grabbed the attending nurse and asked, "What's happening? Why is my son screaming nonstop?"

The nurse explained, "Some patients do have bad reactions and overreact during this examination. If you're worried, you can go in and see."

Of course, Pan Lan was worried. She immediately pushed the door open and entered. Inside, she saw Ruan Qi tied down, with tubes inserted both front and back. The tube at the back was a good five centimeters thick. Her vision darkened, and she nearly fainted.

A nurse nearby supported Pan Lan and pointed to the images and text on the wall, saying, "Mrs. Pan, you can read the details of this procedure."

Pan Lan finally managed to tear her eyes away from Ruan Qi's suffering and looked at the wall. The images and text only made her more despairing, as she realized the doctor was simply following standard procedure—this was how the examination was meant to be done.

The male doctor continued to position Ruan Qi, maneuvering the front tube for over two minutes before finding the right position and inserting the meter-long tube further.

By then, Ruan Qi thought blacking out would've been a mercy, but the pain was too intense to allow it.

For a full hour, he endured merciless probing from the tubes front and back. The doctor monitored the instruments while instructing Ruan Qi to perform certain movements. Finally, two large bottles of saline were pumped into his bladder, and he was ordered to urinate to test urine flow.

Heaven knew how humiliating it was—trying to pee for five minutes with a five-millimeter tube inside him, completely out of control and stripped of dignity, enduring five minutes of excruciating ordeal.

When the examination finally ended, the doctor removed both tubes. Ruan Qi flinched in pain as they were pulled out. He was then wheeled out of the room, contorted in pain, eyes rolling back, screaming and refusing to undergo any further tests.

The doctor came over with a troubled expression and said it was possible to skip the remaining tests, but Ruan Qi would have to sign a waiver absolving the hospital of responsibility if any issues arose later.

Pan Lan refused to accept this. Fearful that undiscovered problems might harm Ruan Qi, she pressured him into completing the remaining examinations.

So Ruan Qi underwent bronchoscopy, un-anesthetized gastroscopy and colonoscopy, lumbar puncture, anal digital examination, and proctoscopy. By the time the lumbar puncture was done to collect cerebrospinal fluid, he was barely breathing, with more air going out than coming in.

After finally finishing the examinations, Ruan Qi wanted to leave the hospital immediately—this place that devoured people without spitting out the bones—but was told he had to lie flat for at least six to eight hours after the lumbar puncture.

Pan Lan, who cherished Ruan Qi as her only son, took the doctor's words seriously and immediately refused to let him leave.

Ruan Qi felt terrible all over. After the round of hospital examinations, he was even more miserable, thinking that being beaten up the previous night was nothing compared to this—the hospital truly made suffering unbearable.

He asked why he couldn't have general anesthesia for the gastroscopy and colonoscopy. The doctor spouted a bunch of medical terms, like "poor response to anesthesia," which left him utterly confused. Pan Lan, afraid of complications, insisted on no anesthesia, leaving him in excruciating pain. He wanted to vent his anger but couldn't—after the lumbar puncture, he had to lie flat and remain calm to avoid a spike in blood pressure.

Additionally, because he had arterial blood drawn, he couldn't shower for 24 hours. He had to endure another day in the same clothes and condition he was in after being forced to the ground the night before.

In pain and frustration, Ruan Qi cursed the hospital as a place that devoured people without remorse.

But even if the police were called, they wouldn't interfere—these were all medical procedures, and he had signed the consent forms.

He could only blame himself for not understanding what these examinations entailed.

The hospital, meanwhile, maintained an excellent attitude, providing masseuses to help him relax and offering various teas and snacks. Even Pan Lan began to feel that the hospital's examinations were thorough and meticulous.

Ruan Qi, who had never suffered such humiliation, nearly passed out from anger.

**

Around 10 a.m., Ruan Shuyang sat in the sunlit dining room, enjoying the tea snacks prepared by Ji Huai, when he received a message from Chi Ye. Chi Ye asked how he was doing, whether Ruan Qi had bothered him again, and invited him to lunch.

Remembering how Chi Ye had also beaten Ruan Qi to vent his anger the day before, Ruan Shuyang felt deeply touched and accepted the invitation.

After agreeing, he told Ji Huai he would be going out to lunch with a friend. Ji Huai asked which friend, and Ruan Shuyang replied it was an upperclassman he knew named Chi Ye.

Thus, Pei Siyue received the news that Ruan Shuyang would be having lunch with Chi Ye.

Pei Siyue tapped his fingers lightly on the desk.

Chi Ye—Chi Hang's younger brother.

An impulsive young man who acted without considering the bigger picture.