Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The lowest level of the Suhui Institute was a maximum-security zone, accessible only to Yan Gui's inner circle of confidants.

In the cold, empty confinement room at that moment, Yan Gui was kneeling on one knee on the metal floor, his neck and limbs shackled with powered cuffs. A three-meter steel chain was all that restricted his range of movement.

His usually aloof and restrained three-piece suit was torn to shreds. His bare upper body, drenched in sweat, defined the muscular contours of his well-built chest.

He hung his head, having not moved a muscle for three minutes.

The oppressive silence felt like the prelude to a storm.

Outside the observation window, Tang Fan and several professors watched him intently.

Tang Fan nervously gulped. When the timer hit five minutes, he whispered, "It's been five minutes. He should be past it now."

As the professors hesitated, Yan Gui suddenly erupted into motion, lunging toward the observation room. The chains snapped taut instantly, emitting the screech of metal.

Yan Gui glared fiercely at the one-way observation window, his eyes savage and cruel—utterly inhuman.

Tang Fan stumbled back two steps in shock. "He's still not clear! And we just gave him the special inhibitor this morning!"

The experienced old professors also looked horrified.

Yan Gui had developed alpha separation anxiety just one month after Shen Hui left three years ago, and it had rapidly escalated into mania.

Even Yan Gui himself refused to believe it, as this was a symptom that only appeared when highly compatible, bonded partners were forcibly separated. Yet, Shen Hui had been a beta until the day he died.

No one could figure out what had gone wrong. They could only rely on traditional inhibitors to suppress the condition. But over three years, Yan Gui's resistance to the inhibitors grew stronger—from needing one every three months initially to them starting to lose effectiveness by the second day now.

If no solution was found soon, Yan Gui would ultimately be driven mad by the rebound estrus, becoming a raging beast.

In the brief moment the others were reacting, Yan Gui, ignored and enraged, let out a furious roar. The veins on his arms bulged as he exerted immense force, actually managing to snap one of the steel chains!

The chain was equipped with a high-voltage conductive device. Instantly, sparks and electricity crackled as Yan Gui slammed it against the observation room's glass.

Tang Fan felt as if it had hit him in the face, staggering back in terror, his heart leaping into his throat.

A young professor stared in disbelief. "He... he broke the steel?!"

That was not a strength any human should possess!

While the young professor was bewildered, the old professor rushed to the control panel. Just as Yan Gui was about to tear off the electric shock collar with his bare hands, the professor slammed his hand on the shock button, cranking the current to its maximum.

*Buzz—*

An agonized wail echoed from the confinement room. Yan Gui's entire body convulsed violently. The old professor showed no mercy, pressing the inhibitor injection button immediately after, administering a dose dangerously close to lethal into Yan Gui's system.

After completing this, the professor collapsed into his chair, too afraid to check whether Yan Gui was alive or dead in the confinement room.

Tang Fan, terrified out of his wits, rushed to the observation window, holding his breath as he stared fixedly at Yan Gui, whose clothes had been reduced to ashes by the electricity.

A few seconds felt like years. Yan Gui, lying prone on the metal floor, weakly curled a finger and gestured a "1" towards him.

"He's lucid! He's lucid! Quick, save him!" Tang Fan shot to his feet and flung open the confinement room door, shouting for the professors to move Yan Gui to the medical bay. After a chaotic flurry of activity, Yan Gui lay unconscious on a hospital bed. Aside from minor electrical burns, all his other vitals were surprisingly normal.

Only then did Tang Fan breathe a sigh of relief, his legs giving way as he knelt by the bedside. He then slumped unceremoniously to the floor. The old professor, thinking he might pass out too, moved to help him up, but Tang Fan waved him off.

"My legs are weak. I can't get up. Let me recover," Tang Fan said, feeling like his whole body had turned to jelly from the fright his boss had given him.

The old professor's hands were also shaking with lingering fear. Too old to smoke to calm his nerves, he wore an expression of someone who had narrowly escaped disaster. "We need to find Boss a little Omega, and fast."

Tang Fan looked completely hopeless. "Who? Me?"

The old professor's expression said: *Who else?*

The two stared at each other in silence. The medical room fell dead quiet. In the year after Shen Hui's death, anyone who dared mention it had faced severe consequences.

The old professor changed the subject first. "I'll go check Boss's examination data. Even a top-tier alpha shouldn't be able to withstand such a high-voltage shock virtually unscathed. Was he really self-differentiated back then?"

Tang Fan shook his head. "I don't know. I only heard something went wrong during Boss's differentiation. But the specifics... only *that person* knows."

The old professor was taken aback. "Shen Hui?"

Tang Fan looked at Yan Gui, who was recovering rapidly, his expression complex. "They say the Chen family set a trap back then, wanting Boss to differentiate into an omega so they could legitimately annex the Yan family through marriage. I don't know what *that person* did, but Boss ended up like this."

The old professor, having worked in gland research his entire life, understood immediately. The Chen family had used drugs to interfere with Yan Gui's differentiation, and not just once.

He fell silent for a moment, then activated the institute's highest security clearance to encrypt all of Yan Gui's medical data, down to the most basic physical exams.

After ensuring all data was securely encrypted, the old professor finally relaxed. He turned to Tang Fan, who had managed to get up. "The research institute can manage without Boss, but the company can't, right? I heard they're still working on the real estate project in Zhongshi Village?"

"Ah." Tang Fan felt even more despair at the mention of it. "The company's next renovation and cooperation project plans to build a research center there. But isn't our current institute enough?!"

"Oh, Boss did mention expanding the institute. After all, gland research, like AI, is a major trend for the future," the old professor said, rather pleased. He had owned two properties in Zhongshi Village early on; flipping them now could net him a clean million from the company, not to mention a potential promotion and raise.

Then he looked at his unconscious boss on the bed, and his smile vanished: No, Boss absolutely cannot die! If he's going to kick the bucket, it has to be *after* the demolition compensation is paid.

***

*

Shen Hui knew he was dreaming. The dim dance floor before him pulsed with neon lights, and the music was deafening.

He passed indifferently through the crowd gyrating to the music. The air was thick with a pungent mix of perfume, alcohol, and sweat.

Many people tried to hit on him along the way, but he ignored them all. A few drunk young masters, undeterred, lurched forward trying to wrap their arms around his waist.

A flicker of disgust crossed Shen Hui's eyes. He casually picked up a glass of ice water nearby and splashed it in their faces.

Infuriated, the young masters cursed loudly, wiping their faces and threatening to teach him a lesson. But upon clearly seeing Shen Hui's face, their blood ran cold.

"B-Butler Shen?!"

Shen Hui was long accustomed to the mix of fear and flattery that followed offending him. The fear was due to his notorious reputation for ruthless methods; the flattery, because no one in Qinghai dared cross the Chen family.

And he was universally recognized as Chen Shenzhi's possession.

"Have fun, Young Master Zhou. I have matters to attend to," Shen Hui said with polite coldness, nodding slightly before turning towards the private rooms upstairs. He could faintly hear Young Master Zhou's scornful snort behind him.

"Who does he think he's fooling? He's just Young Master Chen's plaything! Does he really think he's somebody?"

"Tsk, with that face and figure, no wonder Young Master Chen treasures him."

"Rare find. Once Young Master Chen gets tired of him, I'll snatch him up and have some real fun. Bet he'd be a scream when he cries!"

The group leered at Shen Hui's retreating back, laughing crudely.

"What's so amusing?" Chen Shenzhi stood behind them, holding a cocktail, elegant and refined.

Dressed in a casual shirt and trousers, sleeves rolled to his elbows, shirt unbuttoned to the third button, his smiling peach-blossom eyes half-hidden behind gold-rimmed glasses—he looked every bit the scholarly noble son. Yet the group froze as if doused in ice water, faces filled with terror and fear, not even daring to look back.

Those who insult Shen Hui to his face might end up miserable, but they won't die; however, no one who has cursed Shen Hui in front of Chen Shenzhi has lived to tell the tale.

"Young Master Chen... that..." The leader, Young Master Zhou, turned around trembling, still trying to explain.

Chen Shenzhi smiled slightly. His glasses reflected a sinister, cold gleam.

"You want to sleep with Shen Hui too?"

The deafening DJ music drowned out the shrill screams and pleas for mercy. Moments later, Chen Shenzhi carefully wiped his fingers clean and made his way toward the private room on the second floor.

Shen Hui stood coldly at the end of the hallway on the second floor, watching the scene. Chen Shenzhi stopped unhurriedly on the second-to-last step, smiling as he looked up at him.

"They won’t cross your path again."

But Shen Hui remained tense. Others might not notice, but Chen Shenzhi knew he was already angry.

"Or are you worried about someone else?"

Shen Hui gritted his teeth and asked, word by word, "Where have you hidden Yan Gui?"

Chen Shenzhi’s smile gradually twisted, and then his entire figure, along with the background, began to warp and distort. The vision turned bizarre and dazzling.

Shen Hui heard Chen Shenzhi’s distant, eerie voice: "Guess?"

The dream shattered abruptly, and Shen Hui’s eyes snapped open on the hospital bed.

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. He turned his head, still shaken, to see Yang Bai beside him, sound asleep while clutching a thick professional book.

The looming danger from the dream gradually faded until he wasn't even sure what he had dreamed about. He only remembered it seemed related to Yan Gui, but the current situation left him no room to dwell on it.

Shen Hui, also lying in the hospital, was much calmer. At first, he was somewhat worried about Yan Gui’s condition, but soon he had no time to think about it.

His own condition was far from optimistic. His fever kept recurring, his moments of lucidity grew fewer, and his body grew increasingly uncomfortable. The subtle, uncontrollable instinct to seek a certain kind of pleasure left him very irritable.

He was skilled at enduring, so he showed no sign of it in front of Yang Bai. Yet Yang Bai’s gaze grew more and more concerned, as if looking at a piece of porcelain that might shatter at any moment.

For instance, just now, when Shen Hui sneezed, Yang Bai immediately turned to him anxiously: "Is the IV too cold? I’ll get you a hot water bottle."

He stood up to fetch the hot water bottle without even hearing Shen Hui’s reply.

Since Shen Hui fell ill, Yang Bai had become highly strung and diligent. The young man who used to sneak out to play during holidays now stayed by Shen Hui’s side without leaving, poring over professional books on gland repair whenever Shen Hui was asleep.

Shen Hui initially wanted to advise him against overdoing it but held back, thinking it might benefit Yang Bai’s future. However, the boy seemed obsessed with his studies lately; his gaze grew increasingly peculiar, and his behavior became strange. Once, he even tried to help Shen Hui relieve himself in the bathroom.

Shen Hui coldly kicked him out, and Yang Bai wailed outside the door: "Brother! Brother! Are you okay? Don’t fall! I’ll get you some soft wipes! The hospital’s paper is too rough!"

Shen Hui: "..."

Shen Hui had developed a bit of a nervous reaction to Yang Bai’s sudden movements. But before Yang Bai could take two steps, he was blocked by Gu Yu, who had brought a large crowd of specialists with him.

Shen Hui immediately sat up straight and locked eyes with Gu Yu.

Gu Yu’s attitude was relaxed: "Don’t worry, the people I called in are all from my mentor’s circle. They’re very tight-lipped."

Shen Hui breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you."

Yang Bai’s eyes fixed on the oldest professor behind Gu Yu—the one with the whitest hair and the least of it—whom he had only seen on the school’s honor wall! A titan in gland studies!

But his excitement was quickly overshadowed by a wave of fear: Shen Hui’s condition was far more serious than he had thought. Otherwise, why would such an esteemed professor be summoned? He swallowed nervously: "Dr. Gu, what’s really wrong with my brother? Didn’t you say it was just a common gland infection?"

Gu Yu’s senior colleagues and mentor stared at him in unison, nearly skewering him with their gazes.

Gu Yu: "Uh... well..."

Shen Hui stepped in just in time: "Xiao Bai, I’d like some wontons from the shop downstairs. Could you buy me a bowl?"

Even if Yang Bai was slow, he knew Shen Hui was trying to send him away. He felt both angry and frustrated: "Brother, I’ve grown up!"

Shen Hui was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled: "So now that you’ve grown up, you won’t buy wontons for me anymore?"

"I—" Yang Bai wanted to say he had grown up and could help share the burden, but Shen Hui’s smile left him speechless. He obediently went to buy the wontons.

Gu Yu rolled his eyes: "You’re getting better at using that 'honey trap' of yours."

Shen Hui smiled noncommittally: "Has the treatment plan been finalized?"

Gu Yu dropped his casual demeanor and sighed heavily: "Yes."

He glanced at his mentor before continuing: "There are only two options now. One is to find that wild—ahem, your highly compatible Alpha, and use his pheromones combined with medication for treatment. This won’t guarantee a full recovery, but on the surface, you’ll appear to be a normal Omega."

"On the surface?"

Gu Yu nodded: "Because you can’t be permanently marked. No matter how many pheromones are injected, they’ll eventually metabolize out of your system. Remember the math problem in elementary school about the swimming pool being filled and drained at the same time? It’s kind of like that."

Shen Hui didn’t laugh at the joke. His expression darkened: "What’s the other option?"

Gu Yu and his colleagues looked grim. After a moment, he said: "The other option is gland removal."

Shen Hui waited silently for him to continue.

Gu Yu struggled for a long time before adding: "But this surgery has significant side effects. Post-surgery, you’d need lifelong glandular hormone supplements to maintain hormonal balance. And the risks of the surgery are very high."

Gu Yu knew what Shen Hui wanted, so he and his team had scoured all experimental records and ideas related to gland repair over the past few days, even alarming his mentor. But the final conclusion was that Shen Hui could no longer revert to being a Beta. His gland had been utterly destroyed in the three surgeries years ago, especially the last one arranged by Chen Shenzhi, which was practically a death sentence: become an Omega or die on the operating table.

After a long silence, Shen Hui asked: "How many years would I live after the surgery?"

Gu Yu hesitated, pained: "The longest recorded survival is three years."

Shen Hui fell silent. Three years ago, he would have chosen the surgery without hesitation. But now, he hesitated. If he knew he had only three years left, what would happen to Uncle Yang and Yang Bai?

"Can’t we try conservative treatment?"

Shen Hui’s question surprised Gu Yu, who looked confusedly at his mentor.

The old professor sighed regretfully: "Your gland is extremely fragile now. The slightest stimulation could cause it to collapse entirely. You must make a decision within a week at the latest."

The third path Shen Hui had fortunately embarked upon had finally reached its end. After a moment of silence, he thanked everyone and said he would give his answer within a week.

That evening, Shen Hui and Yang Bai returned to the repair shop.

As soon as they stepped onto the street, they sensed something off about the entire village.

Yang Bai, carrying bags of belongings, followed Shen Hui with a puzzled look: "Hey, it’s only 10 p.m. Why are so many stalls closed already?" Even their favorite fruit vendor aunt hadn’t set up her stall.

They hurried back to the repair shop and found that Boss Yang hadn’t opened for business, nor was he home.

While Yang Bai fumbled under the doormat for the key with his phone flashlight, Boss Yang returned on his small tricycle. Seeing two figures lurking suspiciously, he initially thought burglars had struck, but relaxed when he recognized his two "sons": "Xiao Hui, you’re out of the hospital? Are you feeling better now?"

Yang Bai, who was completely ignored while sticking his rear out to feel for the key: ……

He often suspected that he was the one who was actually picked up from the streets.

Shen Hui was uncharacteristically well-behaved in front of Boss Yang. He shook his head: "It's nothing serious. Uncle Yang, where have you been?"

Boss Yang's delighted expression turned somewhat bitter: "Going around to see if there are any suitable storefronts."

This time, it was Shen Hui and Yang Bai's turn to be shocked: "You're moving?"

*

Half an hour later, Yang Bai brought back some cold appetizers, braised meats, and beer from next door. Boss Yang went into the kitchen to cook a few mushroom-filled dumplings for Shen Hui and steamed a bowl of egg custard, refusing to let the patient make do with the simple meal he and his son were having.

The three of them sat around the small dining table in the second-floor living room, eating and chatting.

The egg custard in front of Shen Hui was golden and tempting, drizzled with sesame oil and sprinkled with scallions—it looked incredibly appetizing. Yang Bai glanced at it repeatedly until Shen Hui scooped a spoonful into his bowl, before asking Boss Yang about the move.

Boss Yang certainly didn't want to move. He had been here for decades; his customer base was stable, the rent was cheap, and he had saved up some money. But you can't fight city hall. This area had been designated for demolition at the beginning of the year. Initially, the landlords had been negotiating because they were dissatisfied with the compensation, but last month, a deep-pocketed developer suddenly stepped in and settled things with them. Demolition was set to begin this month.

Shen Hui frowned: "Which developer?"

Zhongshi Village was the third-largest "village in the city" in Qinghai. There were very few groups in the entire country, let alone Qinghai, that could swallow a plot of land this size in one go.

Since tenants don't receive demolition compensation, Boss Yang hadn't paid much attention: "I think it was... the Yan Group?"

Yang Bai swallowed a mouthful of egg custard, the heat making his tongue dance around his mouth: "Yan? As in Senior Yan's family?"

There wasn't a second Yan Group in Qinghai, but Shen Hui still felt this didn't match Yan Gui's style. While Zhongshi Village had geographical advantages for development, the economic downturn of recent years made such a massive investment a very risky move.

Shen Hui unconsciously tapped the tabletop: "Unless there is some kind of force majeure..."

Boss Yang and Yang Bai watched him slip into work mode. The father and son moved their chairs back in unison—Shen Hui's "serious thinking" aura made others feel that speaking too loudly in front of him would result in their entire clan being executed.

Yang Bai leaned over to his father and whispered: "Do you think my brother is going to take a knife and go kill the person in charge?"

Boss Yang thought he had a point: "Go hide the knives in the kitchen first."

Shen Hui didn't notice the duo's little movements; he was busy pondering Yan Gui's motives.

However, his clear train of thought was disrupted by the image of Yan Gui’s face, flushed with passion—those scorching kisses, the desperate, yearning calls...

An uncontrollable craving spread silently through his body, making even his fingertips feel slightly numb.

He needed to make a decision soon.

At the same time Shen Hui reached his resolution, Yan Gui, back at the research institute, opened his eyes and sat up.

Tang Fan was about to step forward to check on him but was frightened into silence by his crazed gaze.

Yan Gui smiled, a grin like a demon crawling out of hell: "Shen Hui is still alive."

***

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Author's Note: Diao Diao is begging for favorites and comments! Little angels, please look at me! [heart][heart][heart]