Chapter 6 Paper Figure

Chapter 6: Paper People

Yu Wei had just stepped out of the shower when he got a text from Qiu Lei. After dropping Shi Ciyan and Yu Song off at school that afternoon, he went straight to the company. Since he had gone to the hospital at noon, the afternoon meeting couldn't proceed as scheduled, and a lot of work had piled up at the company, so he had to work overtime to finish it.

Yes, even he had to work overtime. Yu Wei cursed his bad luck.

He used to be an ordinary accountant, dealing with various vouchers all day long, knowing nothing about managing a company. To avoid being discovered, he diligently completed his work over the past few days while secretly learning and filling in the gaps.

Today, he finished work and came home close to midnight. The original body's parents were still awake, waiting for him in the living room. They asked how he was doing, but Yu Wei didn't bring up the hospital trip and brushed them off. Since he came back late, the household staff had left him a late-night snack. Yu Wei had a couple of bites, claimed he was tired, and fled to his room to study. He studied so fiercely he forgot everything else; when he checked the time again, it was already 2:30 AM.

After a busy day, Yu Wei soaked in the tub for half an hour before bed, intending to sleep comfortably. But then he received a message from Qiu Lei.

Qiu Lei had become a crow now—getting a message from him never meant anything good. Sure enough, Yu Song had gotten into another fight.

Yu Wei changed clothes as fast as he could, not even stopping to dry his hair before heading out. He was grateful that in his previous life, he had gotten his driver's license during college to boost his comprehensive scores. Even though he never expected to own a car, he practiced all through one summer break and obtained the license.

He had been in this world for three days, and every time he went out, a driver drove him, so he had never been to the garage. Now, looking at the rows of luxury cars gleaming under the brilliant lights, they were dazzling enough to make his head spin. Yu Wei chose one and drove towards Nanjing University.

All the way, the traffic lights seemed to be against him, hitting red after red, making him increasingly irritable.

Yu Wei wiped his face and, while waiting for a green light, texted Qiu Lei back: "I'll be there in half an hour."

As soon as he sent it and was about to put down his phone, Qiu Lei responded instantly: "Bro, we're at the central city hospital."

Yu Wei paused, a sinking feeling in his gut.

He had beaten someone so badly they ended up in the hospital?

Alarms went off in his head, Yu Wei quickly changed the destination in the GPS and drove toward the central city hospital. This time, there were mostly green lights, and the ride was smooth.

When Yu Wei arrived at the hospital, he went straight to the third floor as Qiu Lei had told him. The hospital corridors were eerily quiet in the early morning, with only occasional duty nurses walking by during rounds. As Yu Wei went upstairs, he saw three people standing with their backs to him in front of the innermost ward on the left side of the corridor, and he immediately recognized Yu Song.

Yu Wei strode over and, without a word, grabbed Yu Song by the ear.

Yu Song yelped in pain, glancing sideways to curse, but when he saw Yu Wei's face, his ear seemed to stop hurting. He asked in surprise, "Bro, what are you doing here?"

"Did you fight again?"

Yu Song's guilty silence said it all.

Qiu Lei had already reported to him that this time, Yu Song had fought Shi Ciyan. Then he glanced at the other main character, Lin Yuchi, whose face was covered in purple bruises—he wasn't in great shape either.

"You hit him too?"

Yu Song denied it, "No, Shi Ciyan did that."

Yu Wei: "..." So they really were a pair.

"Is Shi Ciyan badly hurt?"

Even though he knew that being hospitalized meant the injuries were serious, he still clung to hope and asked.

At his question, Yu Song got upset again. "Bro, why do you care about him?"

Yu Wei let go of Yu Song's ear, really wanting to beat him up. But since Yu Song had already hit someone and the damage was done, he could only think of damage control. Beating Yu Song wouldn't solve anything.

He gave Yu Song a glare and said nothing else.

Everything would have to wait until Shi Ciyan woke up; then he would force Yu Song to bow his head and apologize, begging for forgiveness.

But for now, Shi Ciyan was still in the ward, so they could only wait.

Looking around, he noticed Lin Yuchi's face again. Even if they had a love-hate relationship, they shouldn't go that far.

Wait, those injuries on Lin Yuchi's face were partially the fault of his cannon-fodder younger brother.

"Yu Song, apologize."

Yu Song was rubbing his reddened ear and looked confused at Yu Wei's words. "Apologize to whom?"

Yu Wei turned to Lin Yuchi and lifted his chin, making his intention clear.

"Why should I apologize to him?"

"You fought him yesterday at noon, and you won't apologize?"

Yu Song glared at the clueless Lin Yuchi. "He brought it on himself with his nasty mouth. If anyone should apologize, it's him."

Yu Wei looked at his stubborn, defiant face, and anger surged inside him. He had already died once and been poor once; this time, he couldn't afford to lose his life again because of these paper characters. If it weren't for the blood relationship between the original owner and Yu Song's family, Yu Wei would have cut ties and left the very day he transmigrated, never interfering in their fates.

But although he hadn't taken over the original owner's body voluntarily, he had gained a new life, making him a beneficiary. It was only right to protect the original owner's family for him.

He didn't know the plot, so he couldn't afford to make any mistakes. Every step had to be correct, without any potential risks—including Yu Song.

He laid down the law: "From now on, no matter what happens, you are not allowed to fight with either of them. If you fight them again, don't blame me for being ruthless. I won't have anything to do with you anymore."

Over the past few days, he had noticed that Yu Song was overly dependent on the original owner. Ignoring him would be the greatest punishment.

Sure enough, upon hearing his words, Yu Song's eyes went wide, tears welling up. "Fine, don't care! I don't need you anyway!"

With that, he turned and walked away, his back practically screaming "Come make it up to me!"

Yu Wei's head started to ache. He tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose, collected himself, and, for the sake of his own life and lifelong wealth and glory, steeled his nerves.

"Yu Song is spoiled and has a bad temper. I apologize on his behalf for what happened at noon today. For him using violence against you and saying unpleasant things, we accept full responsibility. Medical expenses, compensation for emotional distress—whatever you want, we'll pay. Freshman year first semester, the school doesn't allow students to live off campus. I hope you can get along well this semester. Next semester, I'll make sure he moves off campus so he won't bother you anymore. So please be tolerant this semester and avoid conflicts. I'll also make Yu Song work on his temper."

Yu Wei finished this long speech in one breath and gave a ninety-degree bow to show his apology.

Lin Yuchi, who had been gloating moments before, was startled by this sudden gesture and stepped back two paces. Hearing the apology, his eyes flickered with guilt. After a moment, he seemed to snap out of it and stammered a little.

"That... that's not necessary."

"Necessary." This was about the rest of his life—very necessary indeed.

He had to eliminate every potential risk.

Lin Yuchi was too guilty to speak, especially with a witness who had seen the whole thing.

But Yu Wei stubbornly waited for his forgiveness. Lin Yuchi grudgingly accepted the apology, and only when Yu Wei backed off did he breathe a sigh of relief.

The three of them waited outside the ward for ten more minutes. Yu Wei slipped away without a word and came back with a small bag of iodine cotton swabs. Lin Yuchi felt a bad premonition stir in his chest.

Sure enough, Yu Wei walked straight toward him. "Let me treat the wounds on your face."

Lin Yuchi immediately stood up from the bench. "I can do it myself."

"Can you see them?"

Lin Yuchi shook his head.

Yu Wei gently patted him on the shoulder, signaling him to sit back down. "Let me help you."

Yu Wei spoke gently, like an elder caring for a younger relative. His movements were soft as he carefully applied the ointment. Lin Yuchi felt awkward and guilty, keeping his eyes down and breathing deliberately softly.

For the first time, he felt he needed to work on his temper. He also needed to change his prejudice against Omegas.

Not all Omegas were like his father's mistress—flaunting themselves and shamelessly moving in right after his father's wife died.

After finishing, Yu Wei packed up the supplies and handed them to Lin Yuchi. "Apply this when you get back; it’ll heal faster."

Lin Yuchi made a sound of acknowledgment and took them. Just then, the hospital room door behind them opened from the inside, and several people walked out.

"Expedite the blood test report," the lead male doctor gave instructions to his nurse. After the nurse left, he looked at Yu Wei.

The male doctor looked about 20 centimeters taller than Yu Wei. His mask covered the lower half of his face, leaving only sharp, intense eyes that were very intimidating when staring at someone.

"The patient was given a sedative, but his condition is still unstable. He needs to stay in the isolation ward for two days. You should all go home for now."

Sedative? Isolation ward?

Yu Wei looked worried. "Is he very serious?"

How could he be hospitalized for so long? Yu Song must have hit him really hard.

The doctor stopped mid-stride, casting another scrutinizing glance at Yu Wei. "For him, it’s a good situation," he said coolly.

Yu Wei was baffled.

What does he mean, it's good for him?

Getting beaten into the hospital is good?

This doctor is out of his mind. Yu Wei curled his lips and watched the doctor leave. Then he turned and walked to the hospital room door, trying to push it open.

He wanted to check the injuries himself.

The door wouldn’t budge.

Yu Wei shoved the heavy door several times, but it remained still.

"The door must be locked. His condition isn’t stable yet, so no one is allowed in," Lin Yuchi kindly reminded him.

Yu Wei finally gave up, but his worry about the injury deepened.

The three of them walked out of the hospital together and saw Yu Song squatting by the entrance, arms folded.

Yu Wei remotely unlocked the car and told the other two to get in. Then he went and stood next to Yu Song for five seconds.

Yu Song didn’t even lift his head. He just scooted away while still squatting to put some distance between them.

The message was clear: he was still in a huff.

Yu Wei leaned in again. This time, he gave Yu Song a light nudge with his toe. "Get up. Let’s go home."

The next morning, he was woken by the household staff.

He, a big shot CEO, had to get up at eight to go to the company for a meeting.

How was this any different from having an early morning class in college!

Well, there was a difference. He was the teacher, and the employees were the students.

The servant came to remind him a third time before Yu Wei reluctantly crawled out of bed. He shuffled into the bathroom with his eyes closed, washed up, and finally managed to open his eyes properly.

Breakfast was already set downstairs. His parents weren’t home—probably done eating and gone out for a stroll.

Yu Wei took a couple of bites, then headed out. He slid into the back seat of the car, greeted everyone with a "good morning," and closed his eyes to doze off.

Since he transmigrated into this book, the thing he did the most was attend meetings.

That morning, after several meetings, he finally had a breather at noon. He still had a meeting in the afternoon about a newly developed medicine. After lunch, he reviewed the information on the client he was about to meet.

Healthy Medicine Hall, the largest pharmacy in the city. The Yu Pharmaceutical Group had cooperated with them many times before—they were one of their major clients.

This person couldn’t be offended.

But the client’s surname was Lin—Lin Hao. Yu Wei instinctively thought of Lin Yuchi.

Yu Wei searched online but found no useful clues. After a moment of thought, he called his secretary in.

As a CEO, he had nine secretaries.

When the secretary entered, Yu Wei tried to imitate the cold and ruthless tone from TV dramas.

"Go investigate Lin Hao’s family members."

"Understood."

The secretary had no objections. Yu Wei instantly felt a surge of confidence and deliberately put on a stern expression. "The sooner, the better."

It felt so satisfying to boss people around. After dismissing the secretary, Yu Wei suppressed his excitement and couldn’t help but remark, "TV dramas don’t lie."

He hadn’t been in this world for long and hadn’t gotten used to his new identity. Over the past few days, he had been cautious, not even letting others pour tea for him.

Today, he finally got a taste of it.

Not too bad.

At 3:30 p.m., Lin Hao arrived at the conference room on time. Lin Hao was 48 years old, but he looked relatively young—his appearance gave no hint that he was nearly fifty. As soon as he entered, he warmly engaged Yu Wei in a long chat about family matters for over ten minutes. His enthusiasm was overwhelming, and Yu Wei could only nod, shake his head, and force a smile.

It seemed that the original owner had an unusual relationship with him. At the very least, the original owner’s connection with "Ruize," whom Lin Hao mentioned, was far from ordinary.

Based on Lin Hao’s remarks like "you haven’t seen each other in a long time" and "let’s meet up this weekend if you’re free," Yu Wei guessed they were friends.

Yu Wei smiled and humored him, subtly steering the conversation toward work.

The negotiation went unusually smoothly. Lin Hao was clearly satisfied with the new drug. After the two-hour meeting ended, Yu Wei saw him off at the ground floor.

Lin Hao patted him on the shoulder, smiling so much that his face crinkled with fine wrinkles. "Let’s find a lucky day to sign the contract."

I'll have the contract drafted immediately and deliver it in person on an auspicious day.

Yu Wei watched the car with a smile until it disappeared from sight, then his smile faded.

He had been smiling all afternoon, and his face felt stiff.

He rubbed his face hard and called Wang Youguang.

Wang Youguang quickly drove the car to the company entrance. Yu Wei took the keys from him and said, "I'm going out on my own."

It wasn't yet time to leave work, and since this was Yu Wei's first time leaving early, he felt a vague sense of guilt. He quickly got into the driver's seat, started the car, and vanished from the company building in a flash.

With work done, he needed to visit his hospitalized big shot. Yu Wei parked the car and walked into the hospital, heading straight to the third floor. Last night, the doctor had said Shi Ciyan needed to be isolated for a few days, so today he could only check on him from behind a closed door.

The third floor was bustling with people, and the wards were full. However, Shi Ciyan's isolation room was empty.

Had he been moved to a regular ward?

Yu Wei didn't linger and went downstairs to the front desk to ask the nurse, "Excuse me, which ward is Shi Ciyan in?"

The nurse didn't even look up. "What's your relationship to the patient?"

What does that have to do with visiting?

Confused, Yu Wei still replied, "I'm his roommate's older brother. I'm here to visit him."

"We can't give out that information. You can contact the patient directly."

Yu Wei: "Can't you really tell me?"

That's not how it works on TV. Don't they just tell you when you ask in the shows?

The nurse refused coldly: "No. I suggest you call or text."

Yu Wei smiled bitterly. All he knew about Shi Ciyan now was his name and gender—he had no idea how to contact him.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit him. He pulled out his phone and sent a message to Qiu Lei. If he asked Yu Song for Shi Ciyan's contact information, he'd probably blow up, and then he would have to spend time calming him down. Asking Qiu Lei was the best option.

He waited in the car for a while and soon received Qiu Lei's reply. He didn't have Shi Ciyan's contact information either. So much happened on the first day of school that no one had time to add each other on WeChat.

Yu Wei had to give up. It seemed he would have to wait until Shi Ciyan was discharged to apologize to him. But he didn't expect that wait to last a whole week.

On Friday, right after lunch, Qiu Lei sent him a message asking if he still needed Shi Ciyan's contact information.

Qiu Lei: The counselor compiled a student list and shared a spreadsheet for students to confirm their information. I couldn't find Shi Ciyan's WeChat in the group chat, but his phone number is on the spreadsheet.

Yu Wei: Yes, yes, send it to me.

Shi Ciyan had been missing for a week. He hadn't gone to school, and the hospital wouldn't give out information. If the hospital were any smaller, he would have knocked on every ward door.

Yu Wei immediately called the number, but no one answered. He copied the number and searched for it on WeChat, then sent a friend request. For the rest of the afternoon, his phone was quiet. It wasn't until nine that evening that he received a notification that his friend request had been accepted.

...

"Arrange a regular ward for me tomorrow morning."

Shi Ciyan was sitting on the sofa, operating his phone with one hand, glancing at Chen Lv, who was drawing blood, as he spoke.

"Isn't your rut over? What nonsense are you up to now?"

Shi Ciyan ignored him and continued, "He's coming to the hospital to see me tomorrow."

Chen Lv rolled his eyes. Even without Shi Ciyan saying who "he" was, Chen Lv knew it was Yu Wei. After all, Shi Ciyan had mentioned Yu Wei's name over a dozen times in the two hours since his rut ended.

Shi Ciyan's rut had lasted seven days, and tranquilizers and suppressants had little effect. Getting through it was no small feat.

Two hours ago, when Shi Ciyan came to, Chen Lv was called in with a single phone call just to ask what Yu Wei's pheromones smelled like.

When Chen Lv said it was magnolia, Shi Ciyan looked disappointed. "I thought he'd have a fruity scent like me."

"Are you getting better or worse?" As a doctor, Chen Lv was more concerned about Shi Ciyan's condition. People are born with a primary gender, but secondary gender develops during puberty. Omega and Alpha individuals develop glands that release pheromones.

"Do you think he'll like the scent of my pheromones?" Shi Ciyan scrolled through his phone slowly and suddenly asked.

"What are you up to? Releasing pheromones in front of someone of a different gender is unethical. We can't do something like that."

Releasing pheromones in front of someone of a different gender is no different from undressing and seducing them, provided the pheromone compatibility is high. If the compatibility is low, regardless of whether the person is an Omega or an Alpha, low-compatibility pheromones cause aversion.

Either way, it's unethical to release pheromones in front of someone of a different gender.

But Chen Lv was still puzzled. "What kind of spell did he put on you?"

Shi Ciyan and Yu Wei's pheromone compatibility was 56%, which shouldn't have been attractive.

But now, the situation gave Chen Lv a headache.

After Shi Ciyan presented, the amount of pheromones his gland released was too low. Even without a pheromone-blocking patch, others could barely smell him. His rut was also very calm, and the amount of pheromones released was less than one-fifth that of a normal Alpha. This caused a sex hormone imbalance and could even affect his sexual function.

So Chen Lv had always wanted Shi Ciyan to find an Omega with high pheromone compatibility. An Omega with high compatibility would more easily induce Shi Ciyan to enter rut and release pheromones.

But this time, his rut came on fiercely. A normal Alpha would end rut in three days, but Shi Ciyan went crazy for a full seven days.

Chen Lv didn't know if it was triggered by something or if Shi Ciyan had held it in for too long and it all erupted at once. When Chen Lv asked, Shi Ciyan kept quiet, leisurely chatting with someone on WeChat.

An Omega with 56% compatibility wasn't good for him.

Even if he could tolerate low-compatibility Omega pheromones, that didn't mean Yu Wei would like his.

Moreover, if they got together, the low compatibility would cause issues in intimacy and also result in very low fertility.

"No spell." Shi Ciyan recalled the image of Yu Wei in his memory, as if savoring it. "He makes me feel good."

He would make the dreams of these seven days come true, one by one.

Author's note:

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Why do I lose followers every time I post a new chapter? I keep crying and crying.