Chapter 2

Chapter 2

From Zhang Jingrui's vantage point, he could only see the stern profile of Li Xi.

Li Xi's gaze remained fixed on the young, handsome Alpha on the other side of the one-way mirror.

"Ying Zhiyu," Zhang Jingrui calmly explained, "was admitted to the Biomedical University's special program for gifted youths at age 15. In the latter half of the same year, he participated in the National High School Biology Olympiad, was selected for the national training team, and subsequently won a gold medal, securing guaranteed admission to Capital University."

Clearly, Zhang Jingrui had thoroughly researched this young Alpha with an impressive academic record even before Li Xi took notice.

"However, he ultimately declined the guaranteed admission, choosing instead to remain at Biomedical University."

As a high-achieving graduate of Capital University himself, Zhang Jingrui had his own theories about why someone would forgo a guaranteed spot at the top-ranked institution.

"I investigated it—the preliminary exam for Biomedical University's gifted youth program is modeled after the gaokao. Ying Zhiyu took it in his third year of junior high, effectively participating in that year's gaokao. His score at the time already surpassed Capital University's admission cutoff."

"Later, after winning the Biology Olympiad gold medal, Biomedical University made an exception, exempting him from two years of preparatory coursework."

"He is currently in the second year of his master's program within Biomedical University's '4+2+2' combined bachelor's-to-PhD program in Genetic Engineering. He will earn his Ph.D. at just 23, effectively saving five years compared to a typical doctoral student."

Ying Zhiyu's academic record was undeniably stellar.

However, adhering to a meticulous and responsible approach, Zhang Jingrui pointed out, "After his admission to Biomedical University's gifted youth program at 15, Ying Zhiyu's performance wasn't particularly outstanding. His selection for the national training team barely met the qualifying threshold."

"It's possible that his subsequent gold medal in the International Biology Olympiad involved some degree of luck."

After completing his master's degree, Zhang Jingrui had served as Li Xi's assistant for three years.

Aside from being reserved, Li Xi was an excellent boss—young and accomplished. Zhang Jingrui genuinely hoped his boss would find an Alpha worthy of him.

So, after presenting the facts, Zhang Jingrui couldn't help but add a mitigating remark for this exceptional young Alpha.

"But luck itself is a form of capability. His ability to perform exceptionally at critical moments proves his stable temperament."

Li Xi listened silently, offering no comment.

The Alpha on the other side of the one-way mirror had already departed, never once approaching the glass wall.

It was as if his earlier glance toward the mirror had been nothing more than a fleeting coincidence.

Li Xi watched the young Alpha's tall but slightly slender receding figure, pondered for a moment, and then uttered three words: "Annual income?"

The Third Prince of the pheromone business empire naturally wouldn't concern himself with a potential partner's income.

Whether it was one yuan, one million, or one billion, it made no fundamental difference to him.

He was simply, for once, a little curious.

Zhang Jingrui, well-prepared, immediately responded, "As for income, I've estimated an average based on the years since he turned eighteen."

"Ying Zhiyu's annual income is roughly divided into three main components: scholarships, competition prizes, and patent royalties and related income."

The first two sources were easily predictable—with such an impressive academic record, those academic awards were merely natural embellishments along his smooth path.

Li Xi glanced at the monitor; the Alphas had already followed the staff into the lab's cafeteria building.

"What patents does he hold?"

His gaze effortlessly pinpointed the young figure within the crowd.

Zhang Jingrui hesitated slightly, "This is rather complex. I'm not a biology major, so there are aspects I don't fully grasp."

Despite the complexity, the diligent assistant had already retrieved the pre-downloaded patent documents.

Li Xi's undergraduate major was indeed biology-related; he only switched to business for his master's degree.

He quickly scanned the patent pages, surprised to find that the Alpha possessed quite a few.

Ying Zhiyu began appearing as a co-inventor on relevant professional patents around age 18, three years after enrolling at Biomedical University.

On average, he was involved in 2 to 5 patents per year.

However, Ying Zhiyu was rarely the primary applicant. Most of these patents listed prominent scholars and professors in the field of biology as the first applicants—many of whom were names familiar to Li Xi.

Biomedical University enjoyed a prestigious reputation in the biology community and served as the training ground for many renowned biologists.

Li Xi speculated that among the names frequently appearing, one was likely Ying Zhiyu's current advisor.

In these patents, Ying Zhiyu's name typically appeared as the second or third applicant. There were two possibilities: either these patents were genuinely his, but his advisor took the primary inventor position, or given his age and the number of patents, he was more like a beneficiary listed as a courtesy by his advisor.

Li Xi remained silent, but Zhang Jingrui could somewhat infer his boss's thoughts.

After all, he had harbored similar suspicions when he first uncovered these patents.

"Ying Zhiyu comes from a modest background. His Alpha father was previously a construction site steelworker, and his Omega mother originally operated a breakfast street stall. It's unlikely that Academician Xia Xianru listed him as a co-inventor simply as a favor."

Xia Xianru was Ying Zhiyu's advisor at Biomedical University.

Simultaneously, Zhang Jingrui rapidly scrolled through the document, pointing to a specific patent as if to substantiate his earlier statement.

Li Xi looked at the display. Among the numerous high-level, specialized biological patents, one related to food appeared—

A food preparation patent?

"Ying Zhiyu's parents currently run a baozi shop (steamed bun shop) together," Zhang Jingrui stated.

After three years on the job, the steady, rational, and thorough assistant now resembled an enthusiastic food salesman.

Zhang Jingrui smiled slightly and explained, "This patent is quite interesting—if the filling inside the baozi is of substandard quality or has spoiled, the baozi skin will automatically change color."

This baozi skin formula patent was applied for by Ying Zhiyu when he was 12 years old.

That same year, his father, who had been working in construction, quit his job as a steelworker and, together with his mother who had been selling from a stall, borrowed money to rent a small baozi shop under 10 square meters.

This was also Ying Zhiyu's only solo patent.

-

Ying Zhiyu returned to school.

After disembarking near the campus, he went straight to a gym and paid for a membership.

Then, at the front desk's recommendation, he also purchased twenty sessions of sanda lessons (Chinese kickboxing) and an annual swimming membership.

In his previous life, Ying Zhiyu believed that the reason for his "wrongful death" was largely due to having been in a comfortable research role for too long, neglecting exercise, and suffering from poor physical fitness.

Actually, their university also had a sanda and boxing club and a swimming facility open to students.

But Ying Zhiyu wasn't fond of crowded environments; private one-on-one instruction suited him better.

Back at the dormitory,

Ying Zhiyu first placed the gift box purchased at Wangfujing and the unused gift card on Xu Kuo's desk, then finished writing his lab report.

By the time he emerged from the bathroom after showering, the dormitory's curfew had already passed.

He was still alone in the dorm.

This was typical during his graduate studies. Xu Kuo was only after the degree certificate to enhance his resume.

Technical or research work wasn't required of him; as long as it wasn’t cutting-edge academic achievement, it was easy for someone of his privileged background to use connections and get credited.

At exactly 10 p.m., Ying Zhiyu lay down on his bed.

As he closed his eyes, he couldn’t help but recall the last time he closed his eyes in his previous life.

When his heartbeat flatlined, the cries of his family blended with the alarms of the medical equipment.

Was it because his death was so unjust that even heaven couldn’t tolerate it?

But why had he been reborn at this particular moment?

At twenty-one, Ying Zhiyu had no power, no influence, and no agency.

But it didn’t matter.

Ying Zhiyu had no intention of replacing his Omega.

After eleven years of marriage, however little they interacted, Ying Zhiyu and Li Xi had grown accustomed to each other.

Just like when he entered the lounge earlier that day, he could picture the scene behind that one-way glass—someone sitting there, viewing everyone with disdain.

That aloof face would surely show no expression.

Those in research tend to have their quirks, always digging for the root of things.

Ying Zhiyu once thought he was dispensable to the Omega he’d been married to for years.

After all, that was how they had lived for eleven years.

Even in moments of passion in bed, Li Xi rarely called Ying Zhiyu’s name.

There were no terms of endearment, no conversations—only a physical union driven purely by pheromones.

Yet, from the time he was kidnapped to when he was found, more than a week had passed since LI’s shareholders' meeting.

Theoretically, if Li Xi had chosen not to intervene for Ying Zhiyu,

then he would have been of no further use to the kidnappers, and they shouldn’t have kept dragging him around as they hid.

Clearly, Li Xi had agreed to some of their conditions at the time, temporarily placating the kidnappers.

Before falling asleep, Ying Zhiyu grew slightly curious.

So, at the moment of his death, when Li Xi called his name, what was he trying to say?

As drowsiness slowly set in, Ying Zhiyu thought that in this life, he might have the chance to ask Li Xi that question in person.

This time, though, he hoped the "panda" would refrain from pointing a gun at him—it would be more polite.

Meanwhile, 17.6 kilometers away from the graduate dormitory at the East City Biomedical University, in a luxurious penthouse in the city center,

a burly Beta was reporting in a low voice about Ying Zhiyu’s whereabouts after leaving LI Laboratory.

“He took a shared bike to the subway, transferred at Tianmenqiao Station, got off at Guomao Station, and went to the Wangfujing Department Store in Guomao, then straight to the cosmetics counter…”

If Ying Zhiyu were here now, he would surely recognize this brawny man as the "panda" bodyguard who had held him at gunpoint to go to the civil affairs bureau for their marriage certificate in his previous life.

Pan Da was a rough Beta who couldn’t tell the difference between cosmetics and skincare products.

Li Xi glanced at the photos Pan Da had taken.

Ying Zhiyu had made purchases at the Helena, Armani, and YSL counters, all of them beautifully packaged gift sets.

Li Xi recalled that Ying Zhiyu’s profile indicated he might have a lover—a female Omega?

In the photos, the young Alpha listened intently to the counter staff’s explanations.

Li Xi recalled the seemingly accidental glance Ying Zhiyu had cast toward the one-way mirror that afternoon.

The young, handsome Alpha had eyes that seemed to gaze with affection even at a dog.

After Pan Da finished his report and left the study, Li Xi continued working for a while before pulling up Ying Zhiyu’s personal file again at 12:29 a.m.

Pheromone Compatibility: 91%

It was nearly at the bottom of the 90% range, yet just above the matching threshold—much like the Alpha’s academic performance.

From elementary to middle school, Ying Zhiyu had never skipped a grade, and his teachers’ annual comments were always standard.

Even in the year he tested into the gifted youth program in junior high, his grades had consistently hovered around the top 20 in his grade.

Yet, this Alpha, who barely met the qualification line, stunned everyone with his exam results—acing both the written and interview rounds.

The same pattern repeated when he participated in the Biology Olympiad.

Entering the national training team as a "straggler," Ying Zhiyu in the training team once again replicated his "average" performance from elementary school, junior high, and the gifted program.

Until the IBO International Biology Olympiad, where he unexpectedly won the gold medal.

Zhang Jingrui even praised the Alpha’s "tournament luck," noting how he always outperformed in major competitions.

But if it was a fluke the first time,

was it still a "fluke" the second and third time?

As Li Xi continued reviewing the file, his gaze suddenly fixed on one particular section.

Because the lottery was just a pretext, the afternoon LI commemorative gift pack registration form had been temporarily replaced with a lab job application form.

Now, on the form in Li Xi’s hands, one section stood out with flamboyant handwriting—

Specialty: Bringing luck to one’s husband.