CH 6

The Qu family’s old house has also been around for some time. However, compared with the You family’s house which gives people the impression of its decline, this manor is an antique that needs to be carefully appreciated as it had witnessed three generations of glory.

After getting out of the car, Qu Moyu came to his side and said quietly, “No need to be nervous.” 

His voice still carried the penetrating feeling of a man in his youth, yet it was far more stable and intimidating than his age. When he said “No need to be nervous”, his tone was calm, but it was more like an order than comfort.

“I won’t.” It’s true that Shen Dai isn’t nervous, because this is neither his home nor the place where he needs to show himself. He’s just here to be a decoration, not to defend a thesis. As long as he presents himself as a qualified decoration, it won’t even get to his turn to worry since there will be Qu Moyu in any given situation.

But the very next moment, he turned assuredly nervous. This is because Qu Moyu took his hand.

That broad, dry, and powerful hand held his and the faint fragrance of ebony lingered in the air around him. The touch, temperature, smell, and all senses made him feel that he was surrounded by Qu Moyu in layers. 

Thump, thump, thump, that was the sound of his heart beating rapidly.

Qu Moyu led him into the house hand in hand. There was classical music being played in the old house. A room full of people were scattered all over the huge living room, some chatting and some admiring the paintings. The appearance of the two immediately attracted everyone’s attention.

“Moyu, you’re back.” An elder smiled and nodded at him.

“Second uncle.” Qu Moyu greeted everyone one by one, “Where’s my father?”

“He went to answer the phone, might be in the study.” The elder looked at Shen Dai, “This is…”

“Let me introduce you, this is my wife, Shen Dai, who is also a researcher at our Rare Earth-Elements Research Institute.” Qu Moyu smiled and patted Shen Dai on the back of his waist.

“Hello everyone.” Shen Dai slightly raised himself.

“Then you must be really smart. Not bad, not bad.” 

“So you guys must’ve met in the company.”

Although a few people gave a few polite remarks, in fact, they were not interested in him at all. Very soon, they only talked to Qu Moyu.

The Qu family’s relatives are well-off and have seen the world, they are all very clever. From the fact that Qu Moyu did not have a wedding and did not make it public, they already know that Shen Dai can’t be put on the table. Naturally, they have also heard some gossip about Shen Dai’s origin. No one really regards him as “Qu Moyu’s wife”.

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The vast majority of alphas will mark their lifelong partner along with marriage, which is sincerity and respect. However, S-level alphas are different, the lone kings cannot stand being bounded by others. Only a few of them will mark a partner who brings them great benefits, treating it as a bargaining chip exchanged for resources.

So obviously, the cousin that Qu Moyu talked about, clearly started a war by marking You Baiyue. He also didn’t know what treasures the rapidly declining You family had in their hands, he was also quite curious.

After a while, a middle-aged alpha came down the stairs. It was Qu Shen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Xingzhou Group, also Qu Moyu’s father. Shen Dai would only get to see him at the annual meeting. 

“Father.” Qu Moyu took Shen Dai over.

Qu Shen nodded and his eyes fell on Shen Dai.

Shen Dai bowed and said, “Hello, Director Qu.”

“Mn, Shen Dai, right? I heard you’re a researcher at our Rare Earth-Elements Research Institute and a student of Professor Liu?” 

“Yes.”

“The refining and separation technology your group is studying is very important to the future of the group and can greatly enhance our country’s international competitiveness in the rare earth-elements industry. You have to put in good effort.”

“Yes, laoshi and we will work hard to live up to your expectations.”

“You come here, I need to tell you something.” Then Qu Shen said to someone who looked like a housekeeper, “Start dinner at half-past seven.” 

Qu Moyu followed Qu Shen upstairs again, leaving Shen Dai alone in the house of a group of strangers. He silently retreated to the wall and appreciated a painting by Hans Holbein the Younger on the wall. If it was placed in the living room of the Qu family, of course it has to be an authentic piece.

His grandfather is a traditional Chinese painter. Although he didn’t create many famous paintings, he is respected in the fields of education, art research, and appreciation. If his grandfather was still alive, he could’ve taken out his phone to take a picture so that when he goes home, he could’ve had a good conversation with the old man about the painting.

He suddenly missed his grandparents. There were so many people in the room, although it couldn’t be called lively, everyone had company. Only he and his grandma did not. While he was facing this painting alone, his grandma might be facing a potted flower or a book alone, living in a small house that didn’t belong to her, thinking about the past and her loved one while being swallowed by pain, loneliness, and regret for the rest of her life.

The sudden sadness made his chest so stuffy that he didn’t even notice that the door of the entrance opened again and someone came in. 

It was until he heard the approaching footsteps, did he turn his head. A tall young man stood beside him. He has 30 to 40 percent similarities in appearance to Qu Moyu, but the 60 to 70 percent that was different had their own merits. He was equally otherworldly handsome and aristocratically dignified. Similarly, people could also feel his powerful alpha pheromones. Shen Dai was able to immediately guess who it was.

“Hi, I’m Qu Chengchen.” Qu Chengchen put his hands in his pockets and grinned. He looked like a gentle and casual young man. “You’re my da-ge’s wife that he just married. I think I should be calling you sao-zi.”

Shen Dai nodded and said politely, “Hello.”

Qu Chengchen scanned Shen Dai up and down, “You really don’t look like an omega. How did Uncle You suddenly… take you back in?” 

Shen Dai thought in his head, miscalculated, didn’t you? You thought you could occupy the magpie’s nest by robbing someone else’s fiancee but you didn’t expect your Uncle You to have a hidden card, pulling out an illegitimate son from the past he was eager to get rid of. However, Shen Dai was calm and natural, “I’m not sure either.”

Qu Chengchen raised his eyebrow, “Are you really You Xinghai’s son?”

“I am.”

“Are you really an omega?” 

“I am.”

Qu Chengchen didn’t expect Shen Dai to be so stubborn. He answered everything that was asked, but all his answers were rubbish. He slightly narrowed his eyes, “But why can’t I smell your pheromones?” With one step, he arrived right next to Shen Dai, and at the same time, he bent down, coming close to the back of Shen Dai’s neck.

Shen Dai instinctively wanted to turn around and hide. The gland in the back neck is just like the throat, they are both fatal. In fact, it’s actually a layer more symbolic meaningful than the throat; it belongs to a private part. No matter Qu Chengchen’s purpose, anyone whose gland is suddenly approached by a stranger would make defensive measures based on animal instinct.

However, his body suddenly couldn’t move. It was as if he was trapped in a nightmare and lost control of himself. He could only let Qu Chengchen move his face near the back neck at his discretion, letting him wrinkle his nose and take a sniff. 

“Oh, you are indeed an omega, but the scent of your pheromones is so weak.”

The next moment, Shen Dai’s body was “released”. He took a big step back and angrily glared at Qu Chengchen.

Everyone has more or less encountered alpha pheromone suppression growing up. Some might be because the other was too young to control it, some might be because of contradictions and conflicts, or more seriously, they might have encountered malicious attacks. Compared to people of other genders, alphas are like boxers and their pheromones are their fists. Of course, the attack power of alphas is naturally different level to level. However, in this society ruled by law, alphas must restrain their own power to avoid harming others. Most of the time, they don’t need to bring out their fists, they can achieve their goal with a single wave of their hand. For example, they can release a little bit of pheromones to threaten others. When they really do decide to use their fist, as long as they haven’t lost their mind, it would usually only be used on boxers of the same level. Which would result in competition rather than unilateral persecution.

However, Qu Chengchen had just used his pheromone suppression on Shen Dai, which was a great offense. Although it only made him temporarily unable to move, it was already vile enough. What scared Shen Dai the most was that Qu Chengchen only released a small amount of pheromones. There were so many people in the room, yet no one was aware of it except him. Is this what an S-level alpha is? When encountering common boxers, ordinary people can at least struggle and resist a bit, but Qu Chengchen controlled him as easily as breathing. 

Qu Chengchen blinked, “Are you mad? I apologize. What’s the scent of your pheromones? It smells quite nice actually, it’s just too faint. Is your gland not developing well? Will it affect fertility?”

“Chengchen.” Qu Moyu’s low pressure voice sounded from behind.

Shen Dai took a breath and turned to look at Qu Moyu. There was a trace of panic in his glistening pupils, very different from his usual calm appearance.

Qu Moyu gave Shen Dai a reassuring look, then looked at Qu Chengchen coldly, “What did you just do?” 

“Da-ge.” Qu Chengchen put on a fake smile, “Just getting to know my sao-zi.”

“You smelled my wife’s gland?”

“No offense, but the scent of his pheromones is too weak, I thought he was a beta.”

“Apologize.” 

“I have already apologized.”

“I didn’t hear it.” Qu Moyu stared at Qu Chengchen with sharp eyes.

Qu Chengchen’s smile gradually disappeared.

Two top-level alphas stared at each other within the distance of two adjacent tiles. What’s the difference between this and a cage of two tigers? Everyone in the living room dared not say a word. Two types of tyrannical pheromones were hidden and yet to be released, which really made people panic. 

At last, Qu Chengchen shrugged his shoulders, revealed a smile again, and said to Shen Dai, “I’m sorry.”