Chapter 28: Nephew

Chapter 28: The Nephew

Sunlight spilled over the grass, carrying a faint fragrance. Cai Gu stood with a group of Betas at the back door, waiting for the person in charge to speak.

Cai Gu still carried his shabby shoulder bag, standing nervously at the very back. With no one he knew around, he felt completely lost.

Cai Gu's heart began to waver. His eyelashes trembled uncontrollably, and he lowered his head, unsure of what to do.

Although the captain had said he had already pulled some strings to get him in, Cai Gu still felt anxious.

"Hey, who's that next to the person in charge?"

"No idea?"

Cai Gu secretly lifted his eyelids and saw a man in a black suit standing in front of the crowd. His expression was stern, and his eyes flicked over them with contempt.

"Alphas and Omegas, leave immediately. We only accept Betas here. Those who don't meet the appearance requirements won't pass either."

Cai Gu heard the men around him shouting indignantly.

"What the hell? You need good looks to be a security guard?"

"Why can't Alphas and Omegas come?"

"I already paid money. They promised I could get in."

Cai Gu touched the back of his neck, lifted his eyes to look around, and happened to lock eyes with the man in the suit ahead.

He quickly averted his gaze, not noticing the look of stunned admiration in the other man's eyes.

No matter how furious the men were, they had no choice but to obediently line up, waiting one by one for the man in the suit to inspect them.

"Unqualified."

"Unqualified."

"Tch, stay."

...

Cai Gu felt like piglets being chosen at a market. The waiting was agonizing. When it was his turn, Cai Gu nervously handed over his ID card.

The man in the suit gave him a glance and pursed his lips. "Unqualified. Who brought you here? How could an Omega be allowed in?"

The man's voice wasn't loud, but it drew everyone's attention. Under the gaze of the crowd, Cai Gu wished he could disappear into thin air. He steeled himself and politely reminded the man, "It says Beta right here! I am a Beta!"

He pointed at the information on his ID card and said tactfully, "Are you mistaken?"

But the man in the suit was unyielding. "The information on this isn't necessarily real. What if you made a fake ID?"

Cai Gu was so anxious that fine beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. He had no idea how to explain, but if they kept misunderstanding, wouldn't they go after the captain?

After all, the captain had brought him here.

The man in the suit placed the card on the table and lifted his chin arrogantly. "But if you insist on arguing, come with me. I'll verify in person whether you're a Beta or an Omega."

Cai Gu watched as the man swaggered off with his ID card. He opened his mouth to speak, then simply followed.

The man led Cai Gu to an empty corner around the bend, a place shielded by walls on all sides. A long bench was set against the wall.

The man gestured for Cai Gu to lie down on the bench. "Lie down and expose your gland. An Omega's gland is plump, while a Beta's is flat."

The man said in a sanctimonious tone, "As the person in charge, I have to conduct a thorough inspection. What if some malicious Omega sneaks in to seduce the master, trying to rise in station by getting pregnant?"

"Can you take responsibility for that?"

"But..." Cai Gu bit his lip. "I'm too old to get pregnant. You don't need to worry."

Cai Gu was nearly forty. Besides, Betas already had low fertility, and his womb had long since degenerated. Unless subjected to a violent shock, the chance of him getting pregnant was next to none.

The man in the suit didn't care about that. He pushed Cai Gu onto the bench, unable to hide the lust in his eyes. He had noticed Cai Gu earlier in the front.

Even though Cai Gu was dressed plainly, his pectoral muscles were impossible to miss. The man knew that anyone working as a security guard came from a poor background. Even if he took advantage of Cai Gu here, nothing would be done about it.

Cai Gu stumbled back a few steps and sat on the bench. Fortunately, his buttocks were plump, so sitting down suddenly didn't hurt.

Cai Gu's knees drew together slightly. The man clamped his hand over his mouth, tugged open his collar, and revealed the smooth, tempting back of his neck.

There was indeed no swelling. The man bared his sharp teeth, first pressing them against the smooth skin, then sticking out his wet tongue to lick.

Cai Gu felt uncomfortable from the licking and let out a muffled whimper.

Because of his resistance, the man failed to bite through his neck several times. Enraged, he slapped Cai Gu's buttocks hard, producing a crisp sound. The flesh was plump and soft; a single squeeze seemed to fill his entire palm. He couldn't help but loosen his grip.

"Stop moving. I'm verifying your identity. I need to feel your gland first. Let me bite once, just once."

By the end, his speech was slurred, and he only wanted to bite the back of the neck. Seeing that Cai Gu still wouldn't stop resisting, he snarled viciously, "If you keep struggling, you're never coming back here!"

Cai Gu was bullied into curling up tightly. He was timid and submissive, taking this as a necessary procedure. With tears welling up in his eyes, he slowly let his body go limp.

The man was secretly thrilled. He hadn't expected this older Beta to be so easily fooled. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. Just as his fangs were about to pierce the skin, a cup of water was poured down from upstairs.

The scalding water made the man jump away from Cai Gu. Before he could steady himself, the same cup smashed directly onto his head with a sharp sound.

It was even louder than the sound Cai Gu made when he tapped melons at the supermarket.

Cai Gu glanced at the man on the ground, hesitated for a moment, then silently looked away, shrinking back on the bench like a quail.

After all, at his age, having poor eyesight was probably normal, right?

But the man's howls were too obvious. Cai Gu cautiously lifted his eyelids and bit his lower lip. What if the man died here? Would he have to pay compensation?

The more Cai Gu thought about it, the more scared he became. He grabbed the hem of his shirt and slowly approached the man. Before he could help him up, a voice drifted down from the second floor: "That cup next to you costs 200,000."

Cai Gu sucked in a sharp breath. His hand immediately changed direction, unhesitatingly picking up the cup and even patting off imaginary dust, then clutching it protectively to his chest.

Cai Gu looked up in the direction of the voice. A pink-haired man was resting his chin on his hand, his peach-blossom eyes crinkled in a smile, looking down at him. "Bring it up here for me."

Cai Gu nodded solemnly, not sparing a glance at the man on the ground, focusing only on returning the expensive cup.

The man on the ground twisted his face in agony. He reached out to grab Cai Gu's pant leg but missed, watching helplessly as Cai Gu walked farther and farther away.

The man struggled to sit up, half of his face scalded by the hot water. He winced a few times and glared up toward the second floor, but when he recognized the face of the person standing there, he immediately fell silent, not daring to say a word. He quickly lowered his head. "Young master."

He Jing curled his lips, fiddling with the flower petals on the windowsill, and said in a sinister tone, "You've got some nerve."

The man was about to explain, but all he got was the window slamming shut. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and only one thought remained in his mind.

That this was the end.

Cai Gu clutched the cup and carefully went up the stairs, holding it tightly to his chest, afraid that it might accidentally slip out of his embrace.

Cai Gu looked around the corridor in confusion and finally found a half-open door. He tilted his head and cautiously approached. Sure enough, he spotted the pink-haired man on the sofa in the room.

"Hello." Cai Gu curled his fingers and knocked on the door beside him. "This is your cup."

He Jing didn't answer him. Instead, he waved his hand to signal him to come in, while he leaned back on the sofa and spoke lazily to the person on the other end of the line: "Yeah, the old man and the others have been pushing me lately, saying I need to find an Omega soon."

The friend on the other end teased He Jing: "So what are you going to do? Are you going to give in?"

He Jing smiled without speaking. His hand flipped through the book on the table, feeling the texture of the paper.

Cai Gu couldn't understand their conversation. He simply took the cup from his chest and then looked at He Jing with teary eyes.

"If it really doesn't work, just listen to them and find some random Omega to go along with it."

"Just find some random one?" He Jing's gaze fell on Cai Gu. His clothes had already been torn open by someone downstairs, revealing his sunken collarbone.

"That's it. I have things to do."

He Jing abruptly hung up on his friend's call. He looked at every inch of Cai Gu's skin, from the fine lines on his face, to his water-dampened collar, to his flat abdomen, and said slowly: "You've got some nerve."

"You know what? Sleeping with someone in the He residence means being publicly shamed."

Cai Gu quickly waved his hand: "I didn't sleep with him. He just wanted to check my gland to confirm I'm not an Omega."

"But I'm obviously a Beta. Even my ID card says Beta. But he just wouldn't believe me." Cai Gu's eyebrows drooped in frustration, and he let out a distressed sigh.

So old, yet so foolish it's laughable. He didn't even realize the butler was taking advantage of him.

Is he truly innocent, or is there another motive?

These thoughts flashed through He Jing's mind. He lowered his eyes: "Is that so?"

He grabbed Cai Gu's chin with his hand, his fingers sinking into the soft flesh of his cheek, forcing him to look up. Cai Gu's lips pouted slightly, making his pronounced cupid's bow even more prominent.

He Jing scoffed condescendingly: "Then he must be blind. With a face like yours, how could you possibly be an Omega?"

"Bland, dreadfully vulgar. Anyone can see at a glance that you're a low-class Beta."

He Jing lowered his head, staring at Cai Gu's face, unwilling to miss any expression on it.

Cai Gu frowned. Just when He Jing thought he was about to get angry, the man nodded vigorously in agreement and let out a relieved sigh: "Great. Finally someone recognized it."

He grasped He Jing's wrist with both hands, his eyes shining: "Then can you explain it to him and let me work as a security guard here?"

The smile froze on He Jing's face. He looked puzzled, as if he hadn't expected to receive such a question.

He let go. He had been too forceful earlier, leaving red fingerprints on Cai Gu's cheek.

He Jing drummed his fingers thoughtfully. His fingertips still felt the slipperiness of Cai Gu's skin: "Then I can't help you. After all, I can't interfere with the manor's security matters."

Cai Gu's shoulders slumped. He pursed his lips, looking dejected.

Seeing him so dejected, a sudden thought occurred to He Jing: "But there's a favor I need from you."

"Pretend to be my wife and fool my parents."

Cai Gu was taken aback. It took him a moment to snap out of it. He shook his head and said hesitantly: "Wouldn't it be bad to deceive your parents? I don't want to lie."

"Ten thousand a day."

"But..." Hearing the salary, Cai Gu quickly took back his words and murmured meekly: "If I can help you, I'll be very happy. It's not because of the money."

Cai Gu showed a timid smile, and the fine lines at the corners of his eyes creased.

He Jing smiled and didn't push further. He crossed his legs and gazed down at Cai Gu. The thin shirt revealed the Beta's wheat-colored skin.

In fact, He Jing had been standing at the window all along, so he had witnessed the entire scene of the butler bullying Cai Gu.

He could have intervened earlier, but when he saw Cai Gu being pressed onto the bench, looking pitiful, his darker instincts took over. He wanted to see Cai Gu bullied even more.

He wanted to see him sob uncontrollably, feeling a twisted pleasure in tormenting an honest man.

"Go take a shower in the bathroom first." He Jing pressed his fingers to the back of Cai Gu's neck, trying to wipe away the butler's lingering pheromones. "I'll have someone bring you clothes later. Stay put."

For ten thousand a day, Cai Gu would do anything He Jing said. He pursed his lips and nodded obediently.

He really wanted a shower. The shirt was sticking to his skin, making him very uncomfortable.

Cai Gu lowered his head and slowly shuffled into the bathroom. Steam instantly filled the bathroom. He squeezed some body wash onto his hands and scrubbed his neck several times until the sticky feeling disappeared. He let out a long sigh of relief.

Cai Gu stood in front of the mirror. He leaned in to look at his own face, staring at every emerging fine line. Although he rarely cared about his face, with this appearance, could he really fool anyone into thinking he was someone's wife?

What if he was exposed? Would he still get the ten thousand?

Cai Gu puffed out his cheeks and slowly crouched in front of the sink.

"Ding-dong."

His phone rang. Cai Gu, with one hand on the edge of the sink, picked up the phone in confusion. It was Jiang Yu sending him a picture.

The exercise in the photo had an accuracy rate of 80%. Seeing his rapid progress, Cai Gu's eyes sparkled with joy.

[Cai Gu]: Great, great. Progressing so fast.

[Cai Gu]: Also, don't forget to rest.

Cai Gu originally wanted to wish him that he would definitely get first place, but his finger paused over the screen. First, he was afraid of putting too much pressure on him. Second, the number one in the academy was He Yanxing. If he fell from first place, would he feel disappointed?

[Shan Yu]: Hmph, it's average. With such simple questions, I don't need to work hard at all. I can get first place just by casually flipping through the books.

[Cai Gu]: Really? Then why don't you casually look at the books for other subjects as well?

Cai Gu's mind was shaken by Jiang Yu's words. Maybe he was a learning genius! He could speed-read!

[Jiang Yu]: Are you trying to tire me to death?

[Jiang Yu]: I knew it! You want to exhaust me to death and then throw yourself into your husband's arms!

After spending so much time together, Cai Gu still couldn't keep up with Jiang Yu's train of thought. He felt the young man was like a runaway horse that couldn't be reined in.

But now, there was a more troublesome matter. It seemed he had more than one husband now.

[Cai Gu]: Don't overthink it. I'm just praising your intelligence.

[Cai Gu]: Have you finished the teething biscuits I bought you?

[Cai Gu]: Let me check your teeth.

[Shan Yu]: Image

Looking at the image where his sharp teeth hadn't continued growing, he finally breathed a sigh of relief—it seemed the teething biscuits were working.

Cai Gu had deliberately chosen the most expensive kind, and now that he had money, he could buy another set for Jiang Yu.

Sigh.

Raising a kid is so hard.

[Cai Gu]: I'll buy you another set. You must grind every day.

"Bang."

The bathroom door suddenly swung open, startling Cai Gu. He clutched his phone, looking utterly bewildered.

He Jing leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. He looked at Cai Gu, who was only wrapped in a bath towel, and strode over, glancing at his screen. Unfortunately, Cai Gu immediately turned off the phone, so he saw nothing.

He Jing placed his hand on Cai Gu's smooth shoulder. His shoulder lines were elegant, and right after a shower, a few drops of water still clung to them.

He Jing lowered his head, brushing his lips against Cai Gu's earlobe: "I was worried you might have drowned in the bathroom. Don't play on your phone in there again, understand?"

The heat from his breath mingled with the steam, turning half of Cai Gu's ear red, as if it might bleed.

By now, Cai Gu treated He Jing as his boss. He covered his chest with his hand and nodded obediently.

The bath towel was a bit short for him, barely covering his thighs; his pectoral muscles were also quite full, with half of his wheat-colored chest exposed.

He Jing ran his fingers through Cai Gu's hair and led him out.

An extra set of formal attire lay on the sofa. He Jing tilted his chin: "Try it on. See if it fits."

He sat directly on the sofa, with no intention of being discreet.

Cai Gu picked up the clothes and was about to head to the bathroom when He Jing called out: "Change right here."

He raised an eyebrow with interest: "You need to get used to our roles now. After all, when we actually go to fool my parents, we'll have to do much more intimate things."

"More intimate things?" Cai Gu hugged the clothes, unable to imagine, his eyelashes fluttering.

He Jing lowered his voice, with a hint of coaxing: "What are you afraid of? I'm an Alpha, you're a Beta. What could I possibly do to you?"

Cai Gu was convinced. Alphas always looked down on Betas, considering Betas without pheromones to be incomplete people.

"Alright."

He Jing sat back on the sofa, satisfied. He picked up a cup from the table, watching Cai Gu change.

The bath towel pooled at his feet, first revealing his strong back, then his perky buttocks, followed by his pressed-together thighs.

He Jing's breathing grew heavy, and he unconsciously took a sip of the coffee on the table.

The scalding coffee burned his tongue. By the time he recovered, Cai Gu had already put on the gown—dark green satin that shimmered with a brilliant sheen.

The gown fit well, but it was a bit loose around the lower abdomen.

He Jing, still smarting from his burned tongue, said: "Not bad, but there's something else you haven't used."

Cai Gu tilted his head, his eyes full of confusion.

He Jing picked up a piece of sponge padding from the sofa, came up behind Cai Gu, hugged him, and tucked the sponge into his belly.

The sponge pushed the gown out into a rounded bulge. He Jing smiled with a hint of smugness: "That's right. Just like this."

He led Cai Gu to the mirror, rested his chin on Cai Gu's shoulder, and placed his hand on the sponge: "This is our child."

In the mirror, Cai Gu stood with a protruding belly, looking pregnant. His half-wet black hair clung to his face, sticking to his cheeks, and the fine lines at the corners of his eyes revealed his age. Paired with the belly, it gave off a slightly odd vibe.

Despite his age, he was still pregnant with a child.

"By the way." He Jing pinched his chin, forcing him to expose the back of his neck: "So they won't suspect anything, I need to leave my scent on you."

Without waiting for Cai Gu's reply, he bit down. A sweet pheromone instantly flooded Cai Gu's withered gland. Cai Gu's body was slow to react, and only when the teeth left did he realize what had happened.

Cai Gu took short, quick breaths, his eyes still glistening with moisture. He turned his head and asked cautiously: "Is that enough? Do you need to do more? Because Betas... can't retain pheromones well."

He Jing's breath caught. His grip tightened, and he even started to wonder if Cai Gu was deliberately saying that to get him to mark him, to make him obsessed.

But if that's what he wanted, he could certainly oblige.

The dense, sweet pheromones enveloped Cai Gu again, this time longer than before, so long that the back of his neck grew sore again.

When it was over, Cai Gu touched the back of his neck, his expression indifferent.

He Jing, on the other hand, couldn't control himself, drawn in by him and unable to pull back his pheromones.

He staggered to the table, opened a drawer, pulled out a suppressant, and jabbed it into his arm.

After a while, the redness in his eyes faded. He took a deep breath, hunched over, and curled his lips in a mocking smile, his pink hair falling forward.

Seeing him like this, Cai Gu quickly poured a glass of warm water and handed it over: "Are you okay?"

He was half-worried about He Jing's health, half-worried that He Jing would blame him and refuse to pay his salary.

It took a while for He Jing to recover. He took the glass from Cai Gu's hand, drank it all in one gulp, and grinned with red lips: "I'm fine."

"Even a few more rounds shouldn't be a problem."

Cai Gu couldn't help but advise him: "Don't push yourself. Health is the most important thing."

"It's okay. Being able to do it twice is already impressive." Cai Gu had only been bitten by an Alpha a few times before, but never this deeply.

Though he felt nothing, he still comforted He Jing considerately.

He Jing found it hard to force a smile. He began to wonder if he should study up on marking techniques, because this Beta showed no reaction at all.

It shouldn't be like that. Shouldn't older people be more... desperate?

Could it be that his exes had left such a strong impression that he was numb to him?

He Jing twitched the corner of his mouth, put his arm around Cai Gu's shoulders, and changed the subject: "We need to go downstairs now."

Cai Gu was now completely covered in He Jing's pheromones—anyone would know who his husband was.

Cai Gu nodded. As he walked out, he didn't forget to support his lower back with one hand and cradle his belly with the other, playing the part convincingly.

He Jing held him as they carefully went downstairs to the hall. Cai Gu kept a straight face, but he was exceptionally striking, with a curvaceous figure, and pregnant, exuding a mature allure like a well-nourished flower, beautiful and captivating.

"Today is my nephew's coming-of-age party, so there are quite a few relatives. You need to act well."

-----------------------

Author's note: Nephew. Update will resume at 9 PM tomorrow.