Chapter 6: The Married Beta Receives a Gift

Chapter 6: The Married Male Beta Receives a Gift

Bai Yu gathered his scattered books, brushed off the dust, and headed back to his apartment complex.

The socialite approached him. "Are you alright?"

Bai Yu shook his head. "I'm fine."

She took out a checkbook, wrote a check for 200,000 yuan, and handed it to him. "This is compensation for what my son did to you."

Bai Yu accepted the check. After all, Cui Che had indeed drugged him; he considered it compensation for emotional distress, a sum he was entitled to.

The socialite noticed the books in his hand. "Studying music?"

"Yes."

"That explains it." She scrutinized Bai Yu with a knowing look, then gently wiped a speck of white dust from his forehead.

Bai Yu flinched slightly but, sensing no malice, murmured, "Thank you."

He wondered what she meant by "that explains it." Did Cui Che only fancy artistic students who could sing and play instruments?

The socialite turned to leave. "Ugh, if it weren't for that good-for-nothing son, I'd never set foot in a place like this."

With a roar, a sports car and several SUVs merged into the main traffic flow.

Bai Yu hugged his books and entered the residential area, drawing curious glances from the security guard in the booth.

His phone rang again—a call from Situ Jing.

"Hello?"

"Are they gone?"

"Yes. I wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

Bai Yu tightened his grip on the phone, adjusting the books that were slipping from his arms. "Was it you who released Cui Che's photos?"

"Yes. Anything else? I'm busy."

"Nothing else. You're busy."

Situ Jing paused. "I never said you could use my name to flaunt, but if you're in danger, you can still come to me directly."

*Beep—* The line went dead.

Bai Yu realized Situ Jing hadn't hung up; the call was still connected, but silent. He set his books down, tapped his phone. "Hello, Mr. Situ, can you hear me? What did you just say?"

Situ Jing's lips pressed into a thin line. "Nothing."

The call ended.

***

At 3:30 p.m., diamond-shaped patterns of light from Hengyu Technology's headquarters' glass windows danced across the lobby floor.

Situ Jing entered, and employees greeted him respectfully.

A junior employee in the distance quietly messaged a group chat: [Haven’t seen the boss in ages—still so handsome! Wonder what he’s like in private, if he has a boyfriend or girlfriend.]

[Seems like he doesn’t. He’s never been in a relationship.]

[Top-tier alphas have intense rut cycles. How does he get through them without an omega?]

[Who knows? Maybe he has one but keeps it private.]

[Do you think he prefers female or male omegas?]

[The manager’s here, stop slacking off! Head upstairs now!]

Secretary Zhou followed Situ Jing into the elevator heading to the 30th floor. "Would you like to rest in your office first, sir, or go straight to the meeting?"

"Straight to the meeting."

Secretary Zhou took out his phone and sent a meeting notification to the work group chat.

Situ Jing glanced at Secretary Zhou's phone. "New phone?"

Secretary Zhou was inwardly surprised—the boss actually noticed he’d changed phones?

"Yes, it’s the new *i20*."

Situ Jing asked casually, "Is it good?"

"Very good. Plenty of storage and RAM, handles multitasking and gaming without lag or overheating, great camera quality, and it’s lightweight. The model I bought isn’t even the most expensive; the *i20* Chroma series is even better."

"Get a white one and have it delivered to him."

"?" Secretary Zhou paused for two seconds before understanding. "Yes, sir."

Although their relationship was purely transactional, when Bai Yu appeared by his side, he shouldn't be dressed shabbily or use outdated gear. His phone shouldn’t constantly lose signal, either.

Three days later, Bai Yu received the new phone and sent Situ Jing a friend request.

Situ Jing’s profile picture was solid black, with a single "S" as his ID. After he accepted Bai Yu’s request, Bai Yu checked his profile—completely blank, no posts, no bio.

In contrast, Bai Yu’s profile was lively, filled with photos with friends, mood updates, funny moments from his part-time job, stew recipes he learned online, links to chicken soup articles, and more.

Bai Yu sent a picture of the new phone to Situ Jing, along with a GIF of a cat holding a heart, as a thank-you.

***

After a spring rain, peach blossoms bloomed, and the tree-lined avenue was filled with a fresh floral scent.

Bai Yu rode a shared bicycle to a farm on the outskirts of Yunjing for a part-time job.

A wedding poster of the newlyweds hung at the farm’s entrance—a ceremony was taking place that day, and Bai Yu was scheduled to sing a few songs on stage. To match the occasion, he wore a pink shirt with light blue jeans and carried a guitar on his back.

At noon, the emcee announced the completion of the ceremony, and Bai Yu stepped onto a small white platform to sing.

The bride and groom were modern, dancing and singing along. Bai Yu felt his phone vibrating but waited until he'd finished singing and stepped offstage to check his messages.

Two missed calls from Situ Jing.

*Danger.*

Secretary Zhou had messaged: [Mr. Bai Yu, the boss needs you to come over now.]

Bai Yu: [Has his rut cycle started?]

Secretary Zhou: [No, but the boss wants you to come by. He’s been having trouble sleeping and headaches again lately, and he’s not feeling well.]

Bai Yu breathed a sigh of relief upon reading the message—it seemed he only needed to go today, and the day after tomorrow, he still had to accompany Bai Li to the hospital.

Secretary Zhou: [Are you at home? I’ll send a car to pick you up.]

Bai Yu: [I’m not. Send me the location, and I’ll get there on my own.]

Secretary Zhou: [Location - Xidun Manor]

Secretary Zhou: [I hope you can come as soon as possible. The boss said he wants to see you in an hour and a half.]

Bai Yu opened the location. Xidun Manor was in Heli District, quite far from his current location. Even by car, it would take two hours.

Why didn’t Situ Jing give him a heads-up earlier?

Standing in the noisy wedding venue, Bai Yu replied to Secretary Zhou: [Got it. I’ll head over right away.]

Secretary Zhou: [By the way, there’s one more thing I forgot to tell you before.]

Bai Yu: [What is it?]

Secretary Zhou: [Don’t bring up "the piano."]

Secretary Zhou didn’t explain why, and Bai Yu didn’t have time to ask further. After sending a panda making an "OK" gesture sticker, he went to find a ride.

The venue’s location was quite remote, with no buses or subways. He tried booking a ride on his phone, but the app kept spinning, with no luck.

The bride and groom approached and handed him a large red envelope. "You look really young. Are you just in college?"

Bai Yu thanked them. "Yes, I’m still in university."

The groom noticed Bai Yu’s phone showing the ride app screen. "Are you leaving already?"

"Yes, I have to rush to my next gig. I’m a bit busy today." Bai Yu anxiously watched the refresh icon on his phone. If he waited any longer, he probably wouldn’t even make it in three hours.

What would Situ Jing’s reaction be, given his temper?

The groom said, "Want me to have a friend drive you there? It’s hard to get a ride around here."

Bai Yu followed the groom to find his friend, missing the conversation between the bride and the others.

"Why is he leaving already? He sang so well, and he’s so handsome. I didn’t even get to add him as a friend!"

"Must be a busy day. He has another gig to get to."

"Is he using the latest i20 Chroma? That phone costs like ten thousand yuan."

"Seems like it."

"Doesn’t seem like someone who doesn’t get attention. I saw him replying to messages nonstop after he got off stage."

The groom’s friend wasn’t drinking, but he smoked while driving, filling the car with a strong smell of smoke. Bai Yu got off at a subway station near the Third Ring Road and took the subway to Xidun Manor.

On the subway, Bai Yu adjusted his hair in the phone’s camera, then sprayed some perfume sample on his shirt cuffs to cover up the smell of smoke.

Situ Jing had told Bai Yu to replace his cheap clothes, but what he was wearing today was still the same old outfit he’d worn many times before.

If he had more time, he could have gone to a mall to buy new clothes, but it was too late now.

Bai Yu worried that situations like this would keep happening.

He couldn’t help but think about Secretary Zhou, who was always by Situ Jing’s side. Was he on call around the clock too?

What did Secretary Zhou’s reminder mean? The piano?

There were still 18 stops left on the subway, so Bai Yu did a quick search.

Situ Jing’s profile was pretty sparse: CEO and director of Hengyu Group, Ivy League graduate... a series of impressive titles and awards filled the page.

As he scrolled down, he found an entry related to the piano: Situ Jing won first prize in the Chopin International Piano Competition abroad at the age of 12.

"So he studied music too."

Aside from this award news, there was no other information about Situ Jing and the piano.

The subway windows flashed with passing lights as Bai Yu leaned against the glass and drifted off for a bit.

Two hours later, Bai Yu arrived at the fancy European-style wrought aluminum gate of Xidun Manor. Inside, towering green trees lined a seemingly endless avenue.

Bai Yu sent a message to Situ Jing: [Mr. Situ, I’m here.]

After waiting a few minutes, a shuttle car stopped at the gate. A man in a white uniform got out, entered a code on the smart lock, and opened the gate for him.

"Hello, I’m the butler of Xidun Manor. Please come in."

After passing through security, Bai Yu followed the butler onto the shuttle car and rode into the manor.

A sign along the road read, "Private property, do not enter without permission."

A little further, another sign appeared: "You are now within surveillance camera range."

Bai Yu watched the scenery on both sides—the bustling city he had just been in was long gone.

The shuttle car passed two white buildings and a swimming pool as big as a basketball court. After a full twenty minutes, they finally arrived at the tennis court where Situ Jing was.

Situ Jing, dressed in white tennis attire, swung his racket with his right hand, jumping with his long legs to hit a fluorescent green tennis ball to the other side.

The ball spun through the air, landed, and bounced near the white line. The corner was piled high with tennis balls, like a ball pit in a children’s play area.

Bai Yu adjusted the strap of his guitar case and stood nervously by the tennis court. "Mr. Situ, I’m here."

Situ Jing took another tennis ball from the tube on the ground and glanced up at Bai Yu.

Bai Yu looked timid but then offered a friendly smile.

Situ Jing asked coolly, "Do you know how to play?"

Bai Yu said, "I’m no good with ball sports."

Back in high school, Bai Yu had tried playing basketball but was terrible at it. He’d never played ping pong, badminton, or tennis.

Situ Jing glanced at Bai Yu’s slender hands, which didn’t look like a sports player’s hands. "Go collect the balls, then."

"Okay."

Bai Yu set down his guitar and dashed to the other side of the net to gather the balls.

As the balls came flying one by one, Bai Yu kept bending down to grab them.

The two of them, one playing tennis and the other retrieving balls, exchanged few words, surrounded by the early summer chirping of cicadas.

So far, everything was proceeding normally.

After a while, Bai Yu felt his stomach acting up, likely from eating steamed buns while walking and catching a chill on his way to the performance earlier that morning.

A tennis ball landed near Bai Yu’s feet, but he didn’t pick it up. "Mr. Situ, I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back."

Situ Jing nodded and continued playing.

The butler had been standing nearby, observing and waiting for instructions. Bai Yu ran over and asked where the bathroom was.

The butler escorted him to the bathroom on the left side of the tennis court.

Though called a bathroom, it covered about a hundred square meters and resembled a small clubhouse in appearance. It was fully equipped, with a sofa in the rest area emblazoned with luxury logos, and the faucets on the sink were made of pure gold.

The butler said, "Mr. Bai Yu, I need to check on the lunch preparations in the kitchen. Can you find your way back to the tennis court later?"

"Sure, I can."