Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Seven years ago.

Wen Jueqian had just returned home when he sensed something unusual in the atmosphere. His mother, Qin Jingqiu, an omega, was sitting alone on the sofa, a worried look on her face.

"Mom." Wen Jueqian put down his schoolbag and asked, "Where's Dad?"

Qin Jingqiu managed a stiff smile. "Jueqian, you're back. Your father and brother went to talk business. Don't wait for them for dinner."

"Business?"

His father, Wen Yunshan, ran *Wenyuan Medical*, a small medical device company that owned several key patents. The company had a solid technical reputation, but it never managed to scale up.

Qin Jingqiu started talking faster. "The batch of equipment for Changhe Hospital was shipped three months ago, but they keep stalling on the final payment. The company has sunk too much into developing a new device recently. The bank won't give us another loan, and the suppliers are hounding us for payment."

Wen Jueqian fell silent. At eighteen, he only had a rough understanding of the family business.

His alpha father had chosen not to become a doctor after graduation, instead starting this company from nothing. All he knew was that their life kept getting better.

"So they went to talk financing?" he asked.

Qin Jingqiu nodded. "I heard it's a pharmaceutical company looking to enter the medical device field. Hewei Pharma? I think that's it." Her expression turned vague. "Either way, it's a big company. If the deal goes through, we'll have the money to keep going."

Wen Jueqian looked at his mother. She had married his father right after graduation, and her life revolved around taking care of the kids, keeping up social ties, and staying pretty. This time, even she was beside herself with worry—this must be a really serious problem.

"Don't worry too much," Wen Jueqian said softly, trying to comfort her. "Dad and Brother will handle it."

Hearing this, Qin Jingqiu's shoulders sagged with relief. She muttered to herself, "Right, your father is an alpha, and your brother is an alpha too... They'll find a way."

Wen Jueqian felt that familiar unease.

In this family, he was the only beta. His father, Wen Qiming, was a B-grade alpha. His older brother, Wen Juelang, was an A-grade alpha. His younger sister, Wen Jueya, was a B-grade omega.

Only Wen Jueqian was a beta.

Even though he had gotten into Beichen High School—a school his brother had failed to enter.

He was still the one who was overlooked, the beta nobody expected anything from.

"I'm heading to my room to work on my project," Wen Jueqian said, then turned and went upstairs.

Wen Jueqian was a senior at Beichen High School.

Just the name of the school carried weight.

The bar for admission was extremely high. The first hurdle was tuition—the exorbitant annual fees were enough to scare off your average middle-class family. The school never said it outright, but in practice it favored well-connected families with "pure" bloodlines—alphas and omegas.

Even if you managed to slip through those filters, the real competition began once inside.

At Beichen, "excellent" was just the starting line.

The school evaluated students through a system called the *Beichen Index*. It turned academic performance, extracurricular activities, practical projects, and all other achievements into points and rolled them into one number. Students with too low an index risked getting kicked out. Under these rules, the competition started at the door and didn't let up until graduation.

Wen Jueqian had been at Beichen for two years. He worked hard, but his Beichen Index had been stuck around 700 for a while—just barely a hundred points above the 600 survival line.

Academically, Wen Jueqian had already maxed out. But in areas that depended on things outside his control, he couldn't quite keep up. Take the summer charity volunteer activity scoring—even though he actually did better than most people, he only got a score just a hair above the base.

Because activities like that required clout, connections, and a family greasing the wheels with money and contacts. His father would never spend that kind of money or pull strings for him.

So Wen Jueqian put all his hopes on this semester's practical project.

The practical project score consisted of four parts: the project's base score, personal performance, results, and team leadership—a part that relied more on individual ability.

Wen Jueqian's goal was clear: he had to join a high-tier practical project.

He spent a long time browsing the school's internal system, carefully narrowing down his options, and eventually picked out three advanced projects he might actually get into.

His cursor stopped on the name of one project initiator.

Project title: Feasibility Study on Incorporating Novel Alpha/Omega Suppressants into the Public Healthcare System

Initiator: Wen Yanxu

This name was practically a household name at Beichen High School.

Wen Yanxu was at the very top of the student hierarchy.

This wasn't just about his grades or abilities—it was about the background he represented. As the heir to the Wen family, he was automatically at the top of the school's food chain.

Wen Jueqian's only encounter with him had been during a shared public chemistry lab class last semester.

That day, Wen Jueqian's lab partner was absent due to illness. Just as he was preparing to handle the complex experimental procedure alone, Wen Yanxu at the bench ahead turned around.

"Running this alone is risky," Wen Yanxu said without any small talk. "If you don't mind, you can join our group."

The experiment that day taught an organic synthesis method, but Wen Yanxu did it like it was second nature.

Next to him, Wen Jueqian was clearly out of his depth, which only made him more nervous.

During the heating step, he set the temperature a bit too high. The moment the solvent boiled, the liquid in the flask surged upward, about to splash out and scald him. A hand clamped down on his wrist from behind and yanked him back.

Wen Jueqian was yanked into someone's arms, his back slamming into Wen Yanxu's chest. In that instant, he could hear his own heart pounding—even louder than when he almost got burned.

"This reaction requires gentle heating." Wen Yanxu's voice came from right above his head.

Wen Jueqian hurriedly stepped back, and Wen Yanxu let go naturally, readjusting the heating mantle's temperature before returning to his own spot, like it was no big deal.

After the lab ended, the two left the classroom separately without another word.

For Wen Jueqian, it was a help he'd never forget. But for Wen Yanxu, it was probably just a blip on the radar.

With so many students at the school, Wen Yanxu's attention would naturally stay within his own crowd. A beta classmate he'd briefly worked with probably forgot about it the second he walked away.

Still, Wen Jueqian carefully went through all his strengths and laid them all out clearly in his application.

After finishing, he hit submit with a tiny flicker of hope.

Monday evening, Wen Jueqian came back to his dorm after classes. He went straight to his desk, turned on his computer, and when he logged into the school system, he found himself holding his breath without realizing it.

If all three high-tier project applications were rejected, he would have to immediately pivot to backup options—he didn't have much time.

The page finished loading. A few new emails were waiting in his inbox.

He opened the first one, from the project he figured he had a sixty percent shot at. The person in charge was an alpha he knew—when he'd tested the waters last week, the guy had straight-up said he was welcome to join.

The email was short: Application approved.

Wen Jueqian felt a little more settled and opened the second email. The sender field clearly showed the project code and a system tag.

The words on the screen came into view:

"Student Wen Jueqian: Your application for the 'Feasibility Study on Incorporating Novel Alpha/Omega Inhibitors into the Public Healthcare System' has passed review. Please attend the first seminar at Room 407, Mingli Building, this Wednesday at 9:00 AM. Project Leader: Wen Yanxu."

It passed!

Wen Jueqian stared at those lines for a few seconds before slowly leaning back into his chair.

He couldn't believe it—he hadn't actually expected it to pass.

Though both were high-level projects, Wen Yanxu's project was clearly more prestigious in terms of both level and the impact of the topic itself, meaning higher base points and greater potential for result bonuses.

Without hesitation, he logged into the system, politely retracted his applications for the other two projects, and sent a confirmation email to Wen Yanxu's project team.

The moment he clicked "Send," he felt as if the "survival line" that had been pressing close behind him had finally been pulled some distance away.

"Did you get into a project?" his roommate Zou Xingzhu poked his head out from his bed and asked. They lived in a Beta double-occupancy dorm and got along fairly well.

"It's set." Wen Jueqian turned around, a hint of relief in his voice. "It's Wen Yanxu's group."

"Wen Yanxu?" Zou Xingzhu sat up instantly, his face full of surprise and envy. "How did you manage to get in?"

At Beichen High School, the name Wen Yanxu alone was enough to say everything.

"That's amazing." Zou Xingzhu murmured, genuine admiration in his tone. In the two days before the first seminar, Wen Jueqian prepared as much as he could.

On Wednesday morning, he would take all his prepared materials to the seminar.

The seminar was scheduled for nine in the morning. Wen Jueqian arrived at the fourth floor of Mingli Building fifteen minutes early. The hallway was so quiet he could hear his own footsteps.

Room 407's door was closed. As he approached, he looked through the glass window in the door—only Wen Yanxu was inside.

He sat by the window, side-on to the door, head down reading something. Though his features still carried the youthful contours of a teenager, he already carried an unhurried air of control.

Wen Jueqian paused mid-step, instinctively checking his watch: 8:46. No mistake.

He took a quiet breath, suppressing the faint sense of pressure from facing an S-class Alpha alone, and raised his hand to knock.

"Come in."

Wen Jueqian pushed the door open. The round discussion table was small. Wen Yanxu looked up at the sound, his handsome features especially clear in the light.

"Hello, President Wen."

Wen Jueqian walked to the table, stopping about two steps away to keep a polite distance. "I'm Wen Jueqian."

Wen Yanxu was the current student council president, so calling him that was a safe bet.

Wen Yanxu looked at him, then set down his materials a few seconds later and stood up.

"No need for such formality." His voice was low, carrying a surprisingly gentle tone. "You can just call me Wen Yanxu."

As he spoke, he naturally reached out and pulled the chair to his right back slightly. "Have a seat."

The somewhat familiar gesture caught Wen Jueqian off guard. He thanked him and sat down.

Wen Yanxu sat back down, his body naturally turning toward Wen Jueqian's side. Both were around six feet tall with long legs, and the round table wasn't large enough.

The moment Wen Jueqian settled in, he felt the outside of his knee almost touch the other's similarly bent leg.

He instinctively pulled his leg back, placing his hands on the armrests, considering whether to move his chair away a little.

Just then, voices and footsteps sounded from outside the door—the rest of the group was arriving.

Five people came in. Wen Jueqian recognized three—all big names at Beichen High School. They were clearly close, greeting one another casually and easily.

Wen Jueqian sat quietly in his seat.

Wen Yanxu's group had always had a fixed roster; his joining was clearly an exception.

The last one in was a boy with chestnut curls and delicate features. With a smile, he naturally took the empty seat on Wen Jueqian's left, then turned and spoke warmly: "Hi, I haven't seen you before. I'm Lin Lan." He blinked his almond-shaped eyes, curiosity in his tone: "Are you an Omega as well?"

Modern high-quality blocker patches really could let Omegas suppress their pheromones almost perfectly outside their special periods.

Wen Jueqian turned to him and gave a polite nod: "Hello, I'm Wen Jueqian. I'm a Beta."

Lin Lan's smile remained bright, but the faint guardedness in his beautiful eyes vanished in an instant.

"So you're Wen Jueqian," his tone stayed warm, yet subtly shifted. "Betas are great—our project needs someone like you."

Wen Jueqian nodded lightly and said nothing more.

That shift in attitude—mistaken for an Omega, then instantly adjusted once they learned he was a Beta—was something he was all too familiar with.

Wen Yanxu tapped the table, and the room went quiet.

"Our project goal," he said, his voice clear and steady, "is to demonstrate the feasibility of adding novel inhibitors to the basic medical insurance drug list of the public healthcare system. This isn't an academic paper—it's a policy proposal that will actually be submitted to the relevant departments."

Everyone straightened up.

Wen Jueqian opened his notebook, but he quickly found it hard to concentrate fully.

The space under the table was tighter than he'd expected.

At that moment, against the outside of his left leg, he could clearly feel the warmth of an Alpha's body—a bit higher than a Beta's—through two thin layers of summer uniform fabric.

He glanced at Wen Yanxu beside him.

The Alpha was looking down at his notes, his profile sharp and focused under the ceiling light.

"The final results will be submitted to the Ministry of Health under the joint name of the Aegis Group and Beichen High School research team. This means we need to consider not only academic rigor, but also whether the policy can actually be implemented."

He was completely absorbed in his explanation.

Wen Jueqian looked away and subtly adjusted his posture. As quietly as he could, he pulled his left leg back, carefully avoiding Lin Lan on the other side, and managed to create about two centimeters of space.

A second later, the warmth pressed against him once more.

When Wen Yanxu turned to take the materials Shen Que handed over, his thigh naturally brushed against his.

Wen Jueqian's back stiffened.

He glanced again out of the corner of his eye—Wen Yanxu had already turned back, now discussing a detail raised by Meng Linwan, his expression showing nothing out of the ordinary.

It was probably really unintentional.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to focus on the meeting again.

The task assignment went by quickly.

Wen Yanxu's gaze swept around the room before finally settling on Wen Jueqian. "Wen Jueqian, you'll work with me on the data analysis module."

The assignment caught Wen Jueqian off guard.

Zhou Muyuan, sitting across from him, let out a light chuckle—not loud, but audible enough. "Hey Wen, the data analysis workload's pretty heavy. Want me to add another person? Besides, Wen's a Beta—he might not pick up on AO physiological data as well."

The meeting room fell silent for a moment.

Wen Jueqian felt several pairs of eyes land on him. He tightened his grip on his pen, his expression unchanged.

"Data analysis is about logic and knowing your tools, not your secondary gender." Wen Yanxu's tone was calm, and he didn't even glance at Zhou Muyuan, keeping his eyes on Wen Jueqian instead. "Your resume says you got perfect scores in your stats classes."

A flicker of surprise crossed Wen Jueqian's mind. He didn't think Wen Yanxu would remember that.

"I'll do my best," he heard himself say.

Wen Yanxu nodded and moved on to the next topic.

By the time the meeting ended, it was already one in the afternoon.

After sitting stiffly for so long, Wen Jueqian felt his left leg go numb as he stood up, and he swayed without meaning to.

A hand immediately grabbed his arm to steady him.

"Careful." Wen Yanxu's voice was close. "Are you dizzy?"

The Alpha's palm was warm, just like the rest of him.

Wen Jueqian steadied himself and met those ice-blue eyes. The worry in them made him lose his words for a second.

He couldn't exactly say, "My leg's numb because your leg was pressed against mine the whole time and I couldn't shift."

"A little," he hedged.

But Wen Yanxu didn't let go. Instead, he frowned, studying Wen Jueqian's face for two seconds. "Why are you dizzy? You don't look well either."

The follow-up was surprisingly persistent.

"I... didn't eat breakfast this morning," he fell back on the most common excuse. "Probably just low blood sugar."

Wen Yanxu finally let go of his arm.

Then he turned to the others, who were packing up. "Let's all grab lunch. My treat."

It was the kind of considerate offer you'd expect from a leader.

Lin Lan immediately grinned and chimed in, "Sounds great! I heard Tingsong Pavilion just got a new menu."

Shen Que nodded too.

==========Author's Note:==========

The "seven years ago" part will be released as a side story, not part of the main text.