Let’s Eat Chicken Hotpot

Pei Qingyu had disappeared for more than half a month to participate in a competition, and only returned this afternoon.

He had barely gotten off the plane when the academic office urgently pushed another competition registration form at him, saying it had to be signed and submitted before twelve tonight.

So the moment he landed, he rushed straight back to school.

After signing the form, it was already past seven when he left the teaching building.

This time of year was close to winter, and the sky had already gone completely dark.

Passing the sports field, he noticed from afar that the basketball gym lights were still on.

The team captain—who never believed anyone would voluntarily stay after training to practice more—raised an eyebrow in mild curiosity and changed direction.

When he pushed the door open, he saw only one person left inside the gym.

The newly appointed instructor was bending over to pick up a basketball.

—With the autumn league approaching, the one practicing the hardest on the team was actually the instructor.

The moment their eyes met, Pei Qingyu’s normally underdeveloped sense of humor suddenly malfunctioned at the worst possible time.

He couldn’t help narrowing his eyes slightly.

Then let out a soft scoff.

Wu Qie: “?”

Wu Qie: “What are you laughing at?”

He had heard recently that Zhao Shu had been working insanely hard, jumping around Teacher Wu every day trying to secretly learn skills.

A few days ago Zhao Shu had even sent Pei Qingyu a short video.

When Pei Qingyu opened it, it was just Zhao Shu himself playing basketball.

He politely replied: Not bad.

Later that night Zhao Shu—the idiot—edited a video collage comparing his own clip with some NBA superstar’s move.

Then sent it again.

And proudly typed to ask whether his reverse layup looked somewhat similar.

Anyway, Pei Qingyu hadn’t touched a basketball for half a month.

He put down the document folder in his hand.

Cracked his knuckles.

Then stepped into the gym.

“Nothing.”

Pei Qingyu said.

“One-on-one?”

“Teacher Wu?”

“The loser buys dinner.”

**

Meanwhile, Zhao Shu had already gotten into the car.

It hadn’t driven far when he received a call saying they weren’t going to Xishen anymore.

The spending level had been upgraded.

They were going to Yuanzhuang instead.

On the phone, Lin Zuwen sounded extremely excited.

Every word revealed how much his family valued him—both as their precious only son and now as an Omega.

In his father’s words, differentiation was a boy’s second birth.

It deserved a grand celebration.

Sitting in the back seat, Zhao Shu raised an eyebrow.

Strictly speaking, Yuanzhuang and Xishen were both entertainment venues.

They were even owned by the same family—Zhang Gengxin’s.

But they were completely different.

Xishen openly did business with anyone.

Even if you only had a hundred yuan, you could sit there with peanuts and listen to music.

But Yuanzhuang was different.

It looked like the largest venue in the Zhang family’s entertainment empire.

Yet it actually operated on a membership-only system.

There were only twelve private rooms in total.

Ordinary people couldn’t get in.

Its privacy was extremely high.

Over the years, countless massive deals had been negotiated on Yuanzhuang’s tables.

Zhao Shu had been there a few times.

But he never liked the place.

Selling a bottle of mineral water for 180 yuan just because it came in a glass bottle?

It felt like the kind of place Zhao Guipu loved.

Quiet enough that you could hear a pin drop.

Dark hallways where you couldn’t see your own fingers.

All marketed as “low-key luxury.”

Wasn’t that just ridiculous?

After hanging up, Zhao Shu immediately regretted getting into the car.

He should have just stayed at the gym to play basketball.

But after arriving and seeing how happy Lin Zuwen looked—

And how excited everyone else seemed to be visiting Yuanzhuang—

He swallowed his complaints.

Hands in pockets, he followed the group inside.

Their private room was arranged on the ninth floor.

Above that was the completely restricted area.

From the high floors, the entire city lay beneath them.

As if every secret in the city could be seen from there.

In fact—

That was pretty close to the truth.

As Zhao Shu approached the elevator, he ran into Old Fourth, who hurried over.

A broad-shouldered middle-aged Beta with a long scar running from his eye to his jaw.

“Ah Shu.”

Old Fourth was Zhao Guipu’s driver.

He had once been a mercenary in Phnom Penh before retiring due to injury.

Since Zhao Guipu was twelve years old, Old Fourth had been driving him to school.

He had followed Zhao Guipu for nearly twenty years.

Loyal.

And someone who handled many troublesome matters for him.

He had been in the Zhao family so long that he was almost like an elder.

That was why he addressed Zhao Shu the same way Zhao Guipu did.

“Fourth Uncle… is my brother here today?”

Zhao Shu pulled his hand out of his pocket.

Old Fourth nodded.

Then stepped aside.

Zhao Shu understood the message immediately.

Zhao Guipu knew he had arrived.

The driver was just here to make a brief appearance and let him know.

I’m watching you.

Inside the elevator, Zhao Shu learned that not only Zhao Guipu—

But also Lin Zuwen’s father and several other fathers were upstairs discussing business.

No wonder Yuanzhuang was practically empty.

Zhao Shu listened absentmindedly as people beside him talked about how mysterious Yuanzhuang was.

He stared at his own reflection in the mirrored elevator wall.

His fingers brushed against his phone inside his pocket.

The phone had been silent.

No calls.

No messages.

…Wait.

Had Wu Qie really just kept waiting like an idiot?

It was already dark outside.

Just then someone nudged him.

“Shu-ge.”

“Pei Qingyu came back today, right?”

“He should have landed by now?”

Zhao Shu almost replied: So what? He’s probably busy.

But when he turned his head—

Everyone was staring at him expectantly.

Their whole group had always been Alphas, with a few Betas mixed in.

After three years, only one Omega had appeared among them.

They were actually genuinely happy for Lin Zuwen.

Otherwise they wouldn’t have teased Zhao Shu so much after the hospital incident.

But these people were sharp.

They had already noticed that Zhao Shu’s attitude toward Lin Zuwen might not be as certain as before.

If not—

They wanted to please Lin Zuwen themselves.

If Aphrodite’s Eye still couldn’t convince Zhao Shu—

Even Zhao Guipu’s stance aside—

Anyone here might have a chance.

“Shu-ge, call him.”

Zhou Tong urged.

Zhao Shu pulled out his phone and dialed Pei Qingyu.

He turned on speaker mode so everyone could hear the scolding that would probably come.

But unexpectedly—

The call rang until it disconnected automatically.

No answer.

“Probably busy.”

Zhao Shu shrugged.

“Play without him.”

Yuanzhuang naturally had all sorts of gray-area services.

But none of that involved a group of freshly adult young heirs.

Especially with an Omega present.

After opening drinks, they played cards and billiards.

Honestly, it wasn’t that different from Xishen.

Zhao Shu sat lazily on the sofa scrolling his phone.

He opened WeChat countless times.

Group chats had new messages.

But no private messages.

He frowned unconsciously.

Then scrolled down.

At the bottom of the chat list he found a profile picture of a crooked-smiling golden retriever.

He tapped it.

Then snorted.

He had just typed the first character of “Did you get home?”

When the door suddenly opened.

Someone had come from upstairs.

Apparently the parents upstairs heard Lin Zuwen had differentiated into an Omega.

So they sent down gifts.

Lin Zuwen looked extremely surprised.

Especially when Zhao Guipu’s driver handed him a jewelry box from a famous luxury brand.

Zhao Shu glanced over.

Inside the box was an aquamarine lace anti-bite collar.

Even more exquisite and dazzling than the one Lin Zuwen currently wore.

Under the dim lights of the private room, diamonds glittered brilliantly.

Several girls gasped immediately.

“Oh my god, isn’t this Elizabeth’s new White Heron collection?”

“I saw it in a magazine yesterday!”

“It looks even better in real life!”

“I asked my mom why I wasn’t an Omega just for this collar!”

“She said even if I were Omega she wouldn’t buy it because it costs over four hundred thousand!”

“More like 480,000.”

“But that’s not the point! It just came out—how did they get it already?”

“Zhao Shu, your brother is so generous!”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Zhao Shu.

He had been leaning on the sofa watching silently.

Now he slowly lowered his hand.

“Huh?”

A second earlier he had been thinking casually:

So my brother just hands people this stuff? Pretty lazy.

But apparently he was the only one thinking that.

Everyone else looked thrilled.

And their excitement wasn’t just about the jewelry.

They thought they had discovered something important.

The Aphrodite’s Eye rumor had just exploded today.

Did Zhao Guipu change his mind?

Not even twelve hours later—

And the Alpha’s family had already sent such an expensive gift to the Omega.

That clearly meant something.

“What?”

Zhao Shu suddenly felt they were misunderstanding badly.

He realized something wasn’t right.

Lin Zuwen’s father moving the gathering from Xishen to Yuanzhuang—

Probably wasn’t for the reason everyone thought.

Testing Zhao Shu’s pheromone compatibility with Lin Zuwen without permission had actually been a low move.

The rumors had exploded this morning.

Zhao Guipu hadn’t commented yet.

But that didn’t mean he approved.

—He still stubbornly believed Wu Qie should be Zhao Shu’s spouse.

The collar looked expensive.

But for Zhao Guipu, a luxury brand retail item was nothing special.

Only these inexperienced teenagers thought it meant something.

Zhao Shu figured out what was happening.

His mood darkened.

Are the Lin family playing games with us?

“Why are you all freaking out over ordinary jewelry?”

“Can’t afford food or something?”

Zhao Shu spoke bluntly.

At that moment Lin Zuwen walked toward him with the collar.

His eyes slightly red.

Filled with excitement.

“Ah Shu…”

“I really like it.”

“Please thank Brother Guipu for me later.”

Zhao Shu leaned back slightly to create distance.

The sweet agave pheromone faded.

Only then did he feel more comfortable.

“Don’t bother.”

Suddenly he remembered a watch Zhao Guipu once bought at an auction.

The materials weren’t valuable.

But the craftsmanship was extraordinary.

Probably impossible to replicate.

Zhao Shu had liked it so much he asked Zhao Guipu for it.

He was rejected instantly.

Later he learned he wasn’t even the first to ask.

The watch eventually went to a certain bad-tempered Beta.

An eight-figure watch.

Zhao Guipu had personally driven it to deliver it that night.

The recipient hadn’t even mentioned it the next day.

Compared to that—

Lin Zuwen’s reaction now felt awkward.

Just as Zhao Shu struggled to find polite words—

His phone rang.

He felt saved.

It was Pei Qingyu.

“Pei Qingyu called back.”

He gestured to the room.

Then stepped outside to answer.

When the heavy door closed behind him, the noise disappeared.

On the phone, Pei Qingyu asked calmly:

“What is it?”

Zhao Shu looked at the screen.

Signal was fine.

But Pei Qingyu’s voice sounded slightly hoarse.

Like he had just finished intense exercise.

“Lin Zuwen differentiated into an Omega.”

“We’re all at Yuanzhuang celebrating.”

“They forced me to call you.”

“Where the hell are you?”

“You sound like a seal that just crawled onto land.”

Zhao Shu asked impatiently.

After a pause, Pei Qingyu replied calmly:

“At the basketball gym.”

“Just finished playing.”

Zhao Shu froze.

He was about to ask which gym—

When suddenly, from somewhere slightly farther away on the phone—

A very familiar voice drifted through.

Light.

Calm.

“Pei Qingyu.”

“Want to go eat chicken hotpot?”

“Teacher hasn’t gotten paid yet this month.”