Bazinga

Zhao Guipu’s intelligence wasn’t just his imagination.

Rhine Visay and Bijita Visay really had booked their departure date.

It was the very same day Wu Qie’s joint training camp would end.

The approved flight route information was delivered to Mr. Zhao’s desk immediately.

[ZHAO: They’re very persistent about you.]

[Wu Qie: What’s the point of saying that now?]

[ZHAO: You should still be more careful in how you conduct yourself. Stalkers are usually very troublesome.]

[Wu Qie: To this day, I still regret not studying harder in middle school and failing to get into a top provincial high school, which is why my dad sent me overseas.]

What was the point of regretting a high school entrance exam years later?

The stalkers had already been provoked.

Was he supposed to engrave his reflections onto the back of his gravestone so he wouldn’t make the same mistake in his next life?

[ZHAO: Criticize you a little and you’re already unhappy.]

[Wu Qie: …]

Wu Qie didn’t remember gaining a second father.

Then again, Wu Wenxiong, who once came up with the phrase “ride one donkey while looking for another horse,” probably had an even more flexible way of thinking than Mr. Zhao.

[Wu Qie: I genuinely don’t understand why they’re so obsessed with me.]

The sentence was dry.

The tone innocent.

Elsewhere, a man holding a hand of poker cards tossed down a pair of Aces, announced he only had one card left, and asked Zhao Guipu who he was texting that was making him smile.

Zhao Guipu laid down his final pair of twos.

The corners of his lips curved upward.

His eyes sparkled with amusement.

“Handling family matters.”

He sounded completely sincere.

“Children always look especially fluffy and adorable when they’re having bad luck.”

Across from him, Pei Qin snorted.

“Sometimes, even when you’re doing nothing, you still make people want to arrest you for being a pervert.”

“That’s a terrible thing to say, Director Pei.”

“You deserve it.”

Then Pei Qin changed the topic.

“I heard your son’s rutting period got out of control recently. Is he doing better?”

“They’re all adults now.”

“Young people have emotional fluctuations and immediately start causing trouble.”

“He’s fine.”

“Before the helicopter at home could even be used, he found himself an Omega and marked them.”

Zhao Guipu simply nodded.

“Oh.”

He didn’t seem to find anything strange about that statement.

Nearby, Fei Yuming, who had been clutching a terrible hand of cards all game, couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’m a doctor.”

“Could the two of you please remember that before discussing things like this?”

“Have either of you ever heard of medical ethics?”

Neither Zhao Guipu nor Pei Qin paid him any attention.

Leaning back in his chair, Zhao Guipu picked up his phone.

For someone his age, he was strangely enthusiastic about texting.

Like a teenager who had just discovered smartphones.

[ZHAO: If someone loses an eye, it’s difficult not to become obsessed with the person responsible.]

He had already noticed this when he personally went to the airport to greet fifty million euros worth of clients.

The Visay twins had apparently collected enough “bootleg Wu Qie figurines” to populate an entire flight crew.

From Betas to Omegas.

From black hair to black eyes.

Every time they encountered a lucky person who happened to possess both, that person was inevitably wearing a senior flight attendant’s uniform.

[ZHAO: Are you really that afraid they’ll find you?]

[Wu Qie: Shouldn’t I be?]

[Wu Qie: Until humanity solves the century-old problem of how to communicate rationally with lunatics, fear is a normal human response.]

[Wu Qie: Besides, they’ve already found me.]

[Wu Qie: Thanks to a thirty-thousand-yuan bribe and your company’s security department, whose loyalty seems entirely theoretical.]

[Wu Qie: The plane ticket I bought to escape back to China cost more than thirty thousand.]

[Wu Qie: The next time we meet will probably be at my funeral, Mr. Zhao.]

[ZHAO: Oh.]

[ZHAO: Not necessarily.]

[Wu Qie: ?]

Meanwhile.

The black nanny van from the surveillance footage was slowly driving away from the alley where it had last been seen.

Rhine Visay sat upright in the rear seat.

A USB drive was clenched tightly in his hand.

His eyes remained fixed on the unopened laptop in front of him.

Beside him, Bijita finally spoke.

“When exactly are you planning to insert that thing into the computer?”

“After you’ve crushed it into dust?”

Rhine ignored him.

Because, for once, he was nervous.

His adrenaline was surging.

His heart pounded violently against his ribs.

Every time it was like this.

His heart had long since betrayed him.

Until artificial-heart technology matured, he would apparently have to coexist with this stupid organ that only functioned properly when matters involving Wu Qie were concerned.

“Bijita.”

“There’s an old Chinese saying.”

“‘The closer one gets to home, the more timid one becomes.'”

“Haven’t you heard it?”

Bijita had no desire whatsoever to indulge his younger brother.

The legendary Visay Twin Radar had failed.

For the first time in their lives.

And it had failed on a certain black-haired Beta.

They had chased clues.

Found nothing.

Embarrassed themselves repeatedly.

Then discovered a counterfeit Wu Qie at the banquet.

Only to be fooled again.

‘He’s like a rabbit.’

Bijita thought.

‘A very cunning rabbit.’

Lately, Bijita had become interested in gardening.

He’d planted potatoes in the family estate.

Watered them personally.

Loosened the soil.

Waited patiently for harvest.

And when harvest season arrived…

He found absolutely nothing.

Because sometime during the growing season, wild rabbits had filled the land beneath his garden with tunnels.

How had he dealt with that again?

Ah, yes.

He’d brought in ferrets and hawks.

Dragged the rabbits out one by one.

Captured them.

The fattest ones had been force-fed water until their stomachs burst.

Then he’d put on gloves and dissected them to see whether they had eaten his potatoes.

Unfortunately.

He couldn’t use those methods on Wu Qie.

Sitting silently in the back seat, Bijita watched his brother pacing like a trapped beast.

Fiddling endlessly with the USB drive.

Refusing to plug it in.

“I swear.”

“When I find him, I’ll lock him up.”

Rhine’s voice was dark.

“The chain will be attached to a collar around his neck.”

“Spare me.”

“What use is threatening him now?”

“He tricked us.”

“He should pay for that.”

“He won’t go anywhere.”

“He’ll stay in bed and give birth to child after child for us—”

“He’s a Beta.”

“Yes, yes.”

“But at this point are you really worried about contaminating the Visay bloodline?”

“Just look at our uncle.”

“I think we’ve already reached the point where there isn’t much purity left to contaminate.”

“Besides.”

“Even if he gave birth to a hundred idiots, we could afford to raise them.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Why do you become so stupid whenever he’s involved?”

“And are you ever actually going to plug that thing in?”

Rhine muttered:

“What if it isn’t him?”

Then immediately added:

“God.”

“I really want to kill him.”

“People who toy with us like this shouldn’t even have been born yet.”

“No one ever promised the person we came to see would definitely be him.”

“Yet somehow you’ve already blamed him for everything.”

“Rhine.”

“The reason you spent fifteen years failing to win him over is exactly because of this.”

“And my greatest mistake was believing your confidence and letting you take the lead.”

Rhine nearly exploded.

“Now you’re giving me lectures?”

“Because it’s true.”

“…Damn Diggett!”

And just like that, all blame shifted to Diggett Visay.

The half-blind second-generation Visay family elder.

The man who had stubbornly insisted that the male escort hanging from Zhao Guipu’s arm at the banquet was absolutely the same person he’d seen years ago.

Rhine loudly declared that Diggett should retire if his eyesight was that bad.

Diggett responded by accusing Rhine of thinking with his lower body.

He pointed out a simple fact:

China was full of black-haired, black-eyed Beta men.

Roughly fifty-five percent of the population.

That’s hundreds of millions of people.

His statistics left both nephews speechless.

China was a country capable of completing almost its entire commercial and social ecosystem within its own borders.

The Visay family had virtually no business presence here.

No network.

No established influence.

Standing on a random street corner, the twins were more likely to be mistaken for celebrities than powerful businessmen.

More than once, enthusiastic high school students had approached their bodyguards and asked:

“Who are those two?”

“Are they new idols?”

“Can we get a picture?”

At every traffic light, four or five black-haired, black-eyed Betas would walk past them.

And damn it—

Diggett’s annoying statistics were completely correct.

For one brief moment, Rhine felt exactly like every clueless tourist visiting famous landmarks and checking them off a list.

No different at all.

Meanwhile, Bijita had completely run out of patience.

For days now, Rhine had been bouncing around like a flea.

The entire Zhao Group contract negotiation had been handled by Bijita personally.

Zhao Guipu was a fox.

Every single clause in the agreement required scrutiny.

Bijita felt like he was going bald.

So why was the person who had done absolutely nothing the one talking nonstop?

Without warning, he sat upright.

Reached over.

And snatched the USB drive directly out of Rhine’s hand.

“HEY—!”

Rhine practically screamed.

Ignoring him completely, Bijita expressionlessly plugged the drive into the laptop.

The cooling fan hummed softly.

The only video file appeared on screen.

Suddenly, Rhine went silent.

The inside of the van became so quiet that a dropped pin would’ve sounded deafening.

Even Bijita had to admit:

He was nervous too.

The video began to play.

Four emerald-green eyes fixed themselves onto the screen.

The moment the black-haired young man in the footage straddled a lower-ranked Alpha and snapped his finger—

Both twins’ expressions darkened simultaneously.

Their breathing instantly grew heavier.

Ten seconds later—

Bijita expressionlessly slammed the laptop shut.

Rhine lowered the car window.

Then, with equal expressionlessness, threw the laptop out onto the street.

The machine smashed against the curb and shattered into pieces.

Several pedestrians screamed in surprise.

By the time they looked up, all they saw was the slowly rising car window and a flash of icy green eyes behind the glass.

Back at the resort.

Wu Qie stared at his phone.

The more he thought about it, the more hopeless the situation seemed.

There was no clever way around this anymore.

Apparently Zhao Guipu had been smart enough to find a male escort who looked like him.

Yet somehow hadn’t thought to delete the surveillance footage.

Mr. Zhao’s credibility had officially gone bankrupt.

He wasn’t smart at all.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Wu Qie seriously contemplated how to express this opinion politely.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

After a moment of confusion, he remembered.

Several students had arranged to come adopt kittens.

Opening the door, he found Duan Bairui standing outside.

Duan Bairui wanted the pure white kitten.

He explained that he’d always wanted a cat.

But in the past, he could barely support himself.

There was no way he could afford cat food.

Things were different now.

For the first time in his life, he had some extra money.

And besides—

These kittens had been rescued by his boyfriend during a storm and entrusted to Teacher Wu.

Pei Qingyu hadn’t hidden that fact from him.

The reasoning was perfectly valid.

Wu Qie agreed immediately.

Then instantly regretted it.

Because standing behind Duan Bairui…

Was Pei Qingyu.

The moment the door opened, the Alpha lowered his gaze and looked at him.

There wasn’t a trace of emotion in those dark eyes.

As if he were looking at a complete stranger.

That familiar feeling of being stared at by a ghost immediately returned.

Duan Bairui knew absolutely nothing.

Wu Qie stepped aside and let him enter.

The Omega instantly heard the kittens and hurried inside, eyes sparkling.

Wu Qie immediately tried to close the door.

Unfortunately, the unwanted guest moved faster.

A hand caught the door before it could shut.

Wu Qie looked up expressionlessly.

Behind him, Duan Bairui was already making happy noises while playing with the kittens.

Remembering he was present, Wu Qie reluctantly released the door.

Pei Qingyu entered.

The moment he stepped inside, Wu Qie turned around and walked away.

Like he was avoiding a contagious disease.

He managed two steps.

Then suddenly froze.

A finger had slipped into the gap between his jeans and T-shirt.

Hooking lazily into his waistband.

Pulling slightly.

“…!”

The unexpected skin-to-skin contact made him jump.

He whipped around.

Pei Qingyu’s expression hadn’t changed at all.

The same calm face as before.

The Alpha simply stared at him.

Then slowly withdrew his hand from beneath the shirt.

“Teacher Wu!”

Duan Bairui called from across the room.

“Did you give them names yet?”

“No.”

Wu Qie shot Pei Qingyu a warning glare.

Then turned away.

“The adopters get naming rights.”

Duan Bairui carefully picked up the white kitten and cradled it against his chest.

Then he looked up and smiled.

“Wait for me on the sofa, okay?”

“I still need Teacher Wu to teach me how to feed kittens.”

Pei Qingyu nodded silently.

But he didn’t sit down.

Instead, he continued looking at Wu Qie.

After a long pause, he finally spoke.

“Not even a glass of water?”

It was the first thing he’d said since entering.

The tone wasn’t particularly polite.

Duan Bairui immediately felt awkward.

Ever since the last incident, Pei Qingyu had always seemed strangely hostile toward Teacher Wu.

And Teacher Wu didn’t exactly seem fond of him either.

Had they fought during training?

Maybe Teacher Wu had criticized him too harshly.

Alphas were sensitive about their pride.

Unlike Zhao Shu, who exploded immediately, Pei Qingyu seemed more like the type to start a cold war.

Lost in thought, Duan Bairui watched as Wu Qie chose the path of least resistance.

Expressionless as ever.

“Oh.”

He walked over.

Taught Duan Bairui how to feed kittens using an eyedropper bottle.

Then stood up and headed toward the kitchenette.

The hotel rooms were large.

Nearly sixty square meters without counting the courtyard.

There was a kitchen island.

Filtered drinking water.

A refrigerator stocked daily with honey-preserved lemons and sparkling water.

Wu Qie opened the fridge and grabbed a lemon.

Pei Qingyu followed him.

He didn’t turn around.

But he could feel the Alpha standing directly behind him.

The refrigerator door shut with a little more force than necessary.

His irritation toward Zhao Guipu and the Visay twins hadn’t faded.

He still felt one step away from death.

Part of him was seriously considering telling Wu Wenxiong everything and having the mercenary team from the Golden Triangle relocated to Jiangcheng.

The only problem was whether they could get visas before he got kidnapped.

He genuinely didn’t have the energy to deal with these teenage Alphas anymore.

“Sparkling water or regular water?”

“Want ice?”

Standing at the counter, he asked without looking back.

No response.

Wu Qie prepared himself a sparkling water.

Placed an empty cup nearby.

Then said calmly:

“Then make your own.”

He turned to leave.

A solid chest blocked his path.

Pei Qingyu had approached silently.

Lowering his head—

He pressed his lips against the back of Wu Qie’s neck.

Wu Qie immediately looked toward the living room.

Duan Bairui was completely focused on feeding the kittens.

His back remained turned.

“I tried.”

Pei Qingyu’s voice was low.

Only the two of them could hear it.

“You told me to try harder and overcome the difficulty.”

“So I stayed.”

“I know you wouldn’t approve of someone giving a temporary mark and then abandoning responsibility.”

“So I’m with Duan Bairui.”

“I take care of him.”

“I provide everything he needs.”

His gaze burned against the back of Wu Qie’s neck.

The Alpha was visibly struggling to restrain himself.

Having touched him once only seemed to make the inability to possess him worse.

Eventually, a large hand settled against Wu Qie’s waist.

“What else do you want me to do?”

Wu Qie didn’t answer.

“Why is Zhao Shu allowed to keep appearing in front of you?”

“You don’t ignore him.”

“Have you already gotten used to him doing these things?”

“If I do it enough times…”

“Will you get used to me too?”

Without answering, Wu Qie raised his voice.

“Duan Bairui.”

“Do you want lemon slices in the water?”

The instant Duan Bairui turned around, the hand vanished from his waist.

From the Omega’s perspective, all he saw was his boyfriend standing behind Teacher Wu.

Expressionless as always.

After finally sending Duan Bairui and his terrible boyfriend away, Wu Qie leaned against the closed door and took several deep breaths.

Then he picked up his phone.

While he’d been distracted, another Alpha with absolutely no sense of timing had been asking why he wasn’t replying.

Whether he was angry.

…He was angry.

But fortunately for Zhao Shu, someone else had absorbed the full force of that anger.

Scrolling down, Wu Qie was trying to figure out how to politely dismiss his fake father and contact his real father for help.

Then Zhao Guipu sent another video.

“A funeral planning proposal?”

Wu Qie muttered.

“Maybe add some roses.”

“A rose-themed funeral would be nice.”

He opened the file.

And froze.

It was surveillance footage from the hotel rooftop banquet.

The video quality was absurdly high.

Every detail was visible.

Including the part where he pinned that disgusting middle-aged Alpha to the ground and beat him senseless.

Then, about fifteen seconds later—

The black-haired Beta in the footage turned around.

Directly toward the camera.

The angle captured his face perfectly.

Not his own face.

The face of the Beta escort who had been hanging off Zhao Guipu’s arm that night.

Wu Qie stared.

For a very.

Very.

Very long time.

[ZHAO: Bazinga.]