Chapter 87: Kitten Pinches Him

Chapter 87: Kitten Pokes Him

"Keep talking, and I'll neuter you," Song Yuqing said, his tone cool as he glanced at Pei Huai.

Neuter him—Pei Huai believed Song Yuqing was fully capable of doing it.

Pei Huai fell silent, his gaze settling on Song Yuqing's fingers—pale and slender.

Pei Huai’s Adam’s apple bobbed with restraint. Would these hands really be the ones to neuter him?

That would be... something.

To neuter him, Song Yuqing would have to touch him first—press and poke him.

Kitten poking him.

He liked it.

Really liked it.

Especially, especially liked it.

Pei Huai’s jealousy toward the snake diminished significantly. "If you're going to neuter me, you’ll have to touch me first, right? Isn’t that kind of inappropriate?"

Song Yuqing: "......?"

Song Yuqing hesitated, his eyes meeting Pei Huai’s face. Why did it feel like Pei Huai had gotten worse lately?

Song Yuqing’s prolonged silence made Pei Huai’s heart race nervously.

"Of course, I'm not entirely opposed."

"What I mean is, if you’re willing to touch me, then even being neutered wouldn’t be so bad."

Song Yuqing: "......"

Song Yuqing lifted his eyes and stared wordlessly at Pei Huai. "Get out."

Pei Huai walked to the door before turning back. "By the way, what ointment do you need? I’ll go buy it."

Only then did Song Yuqing state what he needed.

Song Yuqing’s phone rang several times again, but he didn’t check the messages.

Ever since returning to Xinzhou, people had been contacting him nonstop.

Yet, there still hadn’t been any truly satisfying cooperation partners or terms he liked.

Song Yuqing was still waiting.

He also hadn’t given Qi Ran the secondary differentiation serum yet, but there was no rush. He’d wait until Qi Ran left the First District before handing it over. Qi Ran and Pei Huai started from different positions—it was impossible for Qi Ran to enter the Third District immediately after graduation.

He hoped Qi Ran would become another low-key asset under his control, one capable of playing an unexpected role. Qi Ran’s current obscurity was exactly what he needed.

Xiao Jinshi had been extremely busy lately, which indicated things were progressing well on his end.

Song Yuqing stroked Lan Balun’s scales, his thoughts drifting as he considered plans for everyone.

Thinking of Pei Huai reminded him of Pei Huai’s fifty-nine score.

His expression remained blank, but clearly, Song Yuqing was on the verge of snapping.

Song Yuqing: "Fa Fa, do you think I should consider making a study guide suitable for students with weak foundations?"

88 thought—well, for Pei Huai, it really wasn’t necessary. Truly unnecessary.

But upon reflection, Pei Huai didn’t deserve Song Yuqing making a study guide anyway. Pei Huai didn’t need grades to advance; Pei’s father would clear the path for him.

88: "I think it's possible."

88 wagged its tail. "Qingqing, don’t you think I’ve gotten smarter since spending time with you?"

Song Yuqing looked at the tail-wagging 88. "I can’t say anything about intelligence, but you’ve definitely grown a tail."

Lan Balun seemed to sense Song Yuqing’s attention was elsewhere, eagerly wrapping its tail around Song Yuqing’s finger.

Song Yuqing tapped its head. "Stop fidgeting."

Lan Balun lowered its head like a dog, as if understanding every word.

88, refusing to be left behind: "Woof woof woof!"

Focus on those with particularly poor grades and almost no foundation—figure out how to teach them. But if he could teach Pei Huai, he should be able to teach ninety-nine percent of the people in Xinzhou.

Still, he wasn’t doing this for ninety-nine percent of Xinzhou’s population.

What he wanted were those in Xinzhou who lacked financial means but showed potential.

The old families in Xinzhou could screen talent; he could do it too.

Screen that group at the lowest possible cost.

If educational resources were tilted, then he would release all educational resources. Those with ambition would naturally strive.

Pei Huai bought the ointment for Song Yuqing and also purchased an applicator.

Pei Huai was thoughtful. "Use the applicator to tuck it back in for him—don’t use your hands."

Song Yuqing took out a cotton swab, moistened it, and bent his head to care for Lan Balun, completely ignoring Pei Huai’s suggestion about using the applicator.

Song Yuqing kept his eyes down, slowly pushing forward, dark eyelashes drooping, not trembling in the slightest.

His skin was snow-white, while his eyelashes and hair were jet-black, like an elegant ink wash painting.

It made Song Yuqing appear even more distant and untouchable.

Such a cold, detached person performing such a task without expression.

Pei Huai rested his chin in his hand, watching Song Yuqing. "Aren’t you shy?"

Song Yuqing didn’t even glance up. "I don’t see what’s shameful about handling a snake."

Pei Huai raised an eyebrow. If touching a snake isn’t embarrassing, would touching a person be?

Pei Huai: "Once it gets better, give it back to me."

Letting the dog-snake stay by Song Yuqing’s side—wasn’t that giving the dog-snake an unfair advantage?

Song Yuqing: "?"

Pei Huai raised an eyebrow and took out his phone, intending to show Song Yuqing some evidence. However, as soon as he opened the photo album, it was flooded with picture after picture of Song Yuqing.

Not only were there photos, but each one came with a note.

"Stunning princess, I’d worship you."

"Upperclassman, I’ll part ways just to worship you."

"Little kitten, I’ll hold you on my lap and lick you."

"Our Qingqing is the champion—hold the trophy and sit on my face, I’ll lick!"

Without hesitation, Song Yuqing reached over and smacked Pei Huai several times. "Delete them—have you lost your mind?"

Pei Huai covered his head and dodged around. "Song Qingqing, are you trying to kill me and turn me into a widower?"

Song Yuqing’s expression darkened further. He grabbed Pei Huai, landed a few more hits, twisted his arms behind his back, pinned him down, lifted his snow-white chin, and signaled, "Hand it over."

Pei Huai: "Have you been picking fights again lately?"

"It feels like you’ve gotten better at fighting," Pei Huai muttered quietly—the blows stung.

Song Yuqing pressed the alpha even harder into the ground. "Don’t change the subject. Hand it over."

Pei Huai resisted desperately—those were his emotional support. If he gave his phone to Song Yuqing, everything would be wiped clean.

"No way. Just kill me then. I don’t want to live anyway."

Song Yuqing tapped the alpha’s face, leaving him dazed, staring in shock at that pale hand.

Damn it—who taught Song Yuqing to pat an alpha’s face like that?

It wasn’t particularly insulting, but the casual gesture made it feel like he was being toyed with.

Pei Huai’s ears turned bright red, and he completely gave up resisting, only to be held even tighter by Song Yuqing.

The young man’s voice was flat. "Stop acting shameless."

Pei Huai: "..."

Who’s the shameless one here? Song Yuqing is a bully—not only does he hit people, but he slaps their faces too, and then deletes photos on top of that.

Song Yuqing: "One… two…"

Before he even reached three, the phone was placed in Song Yuqing’s hand. "Since I’m surrendering, leave me a few photos."

Song Yuqing denied the request.

"This one is really beautiful…"

"I took this while you were sleeping—it’s gorgeous too. Sleeping Beauty."

When he reached Lan Balun, Song Yuqing tapped his finger and casually deleted it.

"You’re a bit irresponsible. Let me take care of the snake." Only then did Song Yuqing look at Pei Huai.

The snake had been missing for so long, and Pei Huai hadn’t properly searched for it. Song Yuqing truly didn’t believe Pei Huai could care for it properly.

Pei Huai got a strange feeling and hesitated for a long time before asking, "Don’t you think this is like we’re divorced and discussing custody of our child? You’re fighting me for custody."

Keep the child, ditch the father.

Song Yuqing really is something else.

Song Yuqing: "I don’t think so."

"By the way, why did you come to see me?"

Pei Huai then remembered why he had come—he had seen the posts on the forum.

Song Yuqing teaching that fool (him) how to please Song Yuqing.

In his excitement, he had rushed over to find Song Yuqing, only to get beaten into his senses by Song Yuqing.

Not only would Song Yuqing not teach him, he’d also beat him.

Pei Huai: "Nothing. I just missed you—I couldn’t wait to see you, so I came."

Song Yuqing finally looked at Pei Huai but said nothing.

Pei Huai really is a dog in every sense—he clings tenaciously and acts with the passionate devotion of a big dog.

Among all the people Song Yuqing had ever met, he was probably the most loved, blessed with Pei Father’s complete affection, bold and unrestrained.

"Alright, you can go now."

"Then I’ll leave."

Pei Huai had taken only two steps when Song Yuqing lowered his head to attend to other matters—only to be suddenly grabbed around the waist.

"I lied, Song Qingqing."

Seeing Song Yuqing’s slightly hesitant expression, Pei Huai smirked, buried his head in Song Yuqing’s neck, planted a firm kiss, and swiftly snatched Lan Balun away.

"When you miss me, I’ll bring him to see you."

Song Yuqing: "..."

Song Yuqing wiped the mess off his neck with a wet wipe.

88: "Great. That dog used every last bit of brainpower he has on you—kidnapping the snake just to make you admit you miss him."

"Who said this dog alpha is stupid? This dog alpha is far too clever."

He couldn’t wait to spread his scent, his filth, all over Song Yuqing.

To turn Song Yuqing into a soaked kitten, with grime smeared even on his eyelashes.

Song Yuqing lowered his head and sent a message to Pei Huai.

T-T: "If you’re going to raise it, do it properly. Be responsible."

My heart turns to the bright moon: "Don’t worry."

Song Yuqing stayed in the lab for another half hour before heading to the student council to handle some matters.

Passing by the publicity department, Shen Shu brought over a stack of materials. "President, you might need to participate in an interview soon. The content is related to the robot you designed."

"These are a few media outlets I’ve filtered that seem suitable. You can review them again."

Song Yuqing took the materials. "Got it. You've been putting in good work lately."

His voice was cool and crisp, yet his attitude was not aloof. Shen Shu couldn't suppress the smile at the corner of her lips. "Not hard at all."

Working with Song Yuqing was more rewarding than people would guess. He handled tasks with high efficiency and real skill. There was no need to deliberately look for his strengths—any achievement of his was great PR for Victor. His own rags-to-riches story was practically a walking advertisement for their publicity department.

Moreover, he treated them very well.

Shen Shu couldn't help but ask again, "Is this for real, President?"

Song Yuqing lowered his gaze to look at the tablet in Shen Shu's hand. On the screen was the latest post.

OP: Can a genius’s neck really not have a 59% hickey? "Heavily blurred."

Song Yuqing: "..."

Was Pei Huai blurring for no reason?

After reading the entire post, Song Yuqing said, "Delete the post. Ban the account for six months."

Shen Shu knew it couldn't be more true.

Once again, she couldn't help being impressed. The president truly excelled in everything he did—studies, winning competitions, and even the student council, where no one challenged Song Yuqing's authority. Unlike her, who hated everything she tried and hit a wall in every field. The difference between people could sometimes be wider than that between humans and dogs. Though she had long realized her own ordinariness, seeing others so outstanding still left Shen Shu feeling kind of lost.

Thinking about her graduation coming up and still not knowing what specific path to choose, a hint of confusion appeared on Shen Shu's face.

What she didn't know was that Song Yuqing was also feeling pretty frustrated at the moment. After Pei Huai scored fifty-nine, he had even outed Song Yuqing's secret account.

His reputation had been completely ruined by Pei Huai.

Shen Shu hadn't left yet. Song Yuqing's gaze returned to her. "What's wrong?"

Shen Shu knew she shouldn't say anything to Song Yuqing—they weren't that close. But meeting those amber eyes, she couldn't help but speak.

"It's just that I feel too incompetent. I don't do anything particularly well—just ordinary and unremarkable."

"I'm about to graduate, and I still don't know what I want to do."

Song Yuqing listened carefully to the omega's words, then let his gaze fall on the energetic omega. "That's not true, Shen Shu. You're very detail-oriented. Anything handed to you has never had any mistakes."

"Your promotional plans are really creative, and your personality is lively and outgoing. Your character makes people naturally want to work with you."

"In fact, you are anything but ordinary. You are outstanding."

Shen Shu never expected Song Yuqing to pay attention to her, let alone list so many of her strengths.

She thought someone as busy as him would at best remember her name.

Shen Shu was both flattered and captivated by Song Yuqing's attentiveness and warmth. Could anyone not love the president? She was about to become the president's dream omega.

Her eyes shining, Shen Shu said, "I understand, President."

Song Yuqing: "Mm. Go get busy."

Shen Shu walked quite a distance, still smiling. She felt that true excellence was Song Yuqing's ability to see the value in everyone. It was as if even trash had value in his eyes—though of course, she wasn't trash.

She was an outstanding omega.

She was an omega given the stamp of approval as outstanding by Song Yuqing himself.

The new semester coincided with his being away from Victor for two weeks, leaving a pile of decisions requiring his attention—mostly boring and repetitive tasks. Song Yuqing worked until evening to get through the backlog.

Opening his phone, he saw a message from Qi Zhengqing.

Qi Zhengqing: "The parliament side, and Pei Wei, both want to talk with you."

They're losing patience after all.

T-T: "No rush. I've been swamped lately."

Qi Zhengqing: "Mm."

Qi Zhengqing understood perfectly. Now that the other two parties were growing impatient, it was time for Song Yuqing to string them along. That's how the game works—Song Yuqing held the core technology, giving him the upper hand.

He would use information asymmetry and time pressure to create competition and get the best deal for himself.

The competitors were in place; now it was just a matter of continuing the game.

Qi Zhengqing: "I thought you might cut Pei Huai some slack, since Pei Wei is his father."

T-T: "No, I know where to draw the line."

Qi Zhengqing went quiet. Draw the line where? Between emotions and interests? Was he admitting there was something between him and Pei Huai?

Song Yuqing grabbed his stuff and was heading downstairs without waiting for Qi Zhengqing's reply.

Then again, not like there was much to say.

"Song Yuqing…"

Hearing someone call his name, Song Yuqing looked up.

Author's Note:

Shen Shu: I'm about to become the president's dream omega.

Song Yuqing: I'm my own dream beta.

Shen Shu: ?