CH 9

No matter how painful Shen Dai felt in his heart, he remained expressionless, “How do I confirm it? I don’t know him at all.”

“Ask him directly, try to provoke him, and observe his reactions. He and Qu Chengchen are both wary of me, and it’s not suitable for me to lean too close to a marked omega. But you, I believe he will come to you on his own initiative, he will be curious about you, just like Qu Chengchen.” 

When Qu Moyu said this, the coldness revealed by his expression and eyes made Shen Dai doubt for a moment if this really was the person who saved him twice? He said quietly, “President Qu, I don’t know how to do it.”

“For a top-tier omega, it’s shameful to have only received the temporary mark of his target. If you expose him, he will probably become angry.”

Shen Dai felt even more chills down his spine. “What if you guessed wrong and Qu Chengchen did mark him permanently?”

“Then you will see a reasonable response.” 

Shen Dai was silent for a moment, “Okay.” He could not refuse Qu Moyu at all. To him, every word this man said was undoubtedly an order.

“For you, this is beyond the scope of the contract. In exchange, you can also make a request.”

“…” Qu Moyu always carried out the essence of “transaction” in their relationship. This meal wasn’t even out of kindness from needing his help, but the fact that Qu Moyu was only willing to spare this little time for him amid his busy schedule.

“Don’t forget what I said last time. Right now, you have chips to play.”

A series of drum beats set off in Shen Dai’s heart. He didn’t know whether Qu Moyu really didn’t understand or actually didn’t understand. He only has a coin in his hand. Seeing the real chips piled up on the opposite side, what courage would he have to “play” and what confidence did he have to ask for requests? Even if he arrogantly went all in, he might only win a few more coins, that’s all.

So he cautiously put forward a “request”, “Can I add you on WeChat?”

Qu Moyu narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at Shen Dai with a more probing look.

Shen Dai immediately explained, “I really can’t think of something at the moment. Since you said this, can you give me a chance to delay the redemption? I don’t usually see you, so when I think of something, I can tell you immediately. Like last time, I thought of going home on the weekend on the spot.” He paused and added, “I won’t randomly disturb you.” 

The corners of Qu Moyu’s lips were slightly raised, and Shen Dai’s heart skipped a beat in follow-up. The undetectable smile on the other’s face seemed to carry a little bit of mockery, but it might’ve also been his overthinking due to his guilty conscience.

“Of course you can.” Qu Moyu pushed his mobile phone over to Shen Dai.

Returning to his room, Shen Dai’s heart had not completely calmed down yet. He looked at Qu Moyu’s profile picture. It was a part of a rough, dark gray, weather-beaten bark. Its gullied texture points had the momentum of the rugged rocks from the mountains, as if having an incomprehensible story hidden within every deep crack.

Shen Dai’s first reaction was that this was indeed a profile picture that people like Qu Moyu would use. 

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Shen Dai entered Qu Moyu’s Moments with expectations. He was not surprised to only find a monotonous horizontal line. He knew that Qu Moyu did not block him from seeing his feed, but that it was just originally empty, there was nothing here.

However, he was still glad to be a little closer to Qu Moyu and to have the possibility of contacting him at any time. He knows that these ideas he’s having are very dangerous, people shouldn’t think about things that do not belong to them. Except he didn’t voluntarily approach, he was dragged here. His light is at such a close distance and it seduces him with brightness and warmth. What other choices does he have left?

Shen Dai knew that sooner or later he would have to face You Xinghai and the half brother he never met, but could see all kinds of fragments of his life on the internet at any given time. 

The so-called wealthy families are really slaves to formalism. Both sides clearly knew what was going on about his marriage with Qu Moyu, yet they still had to go through these meaningless acts of visiting relatives. Just like how Qu Moyu insisted that he live in the Qu house, it’s all for show.

When You Xinghai saw him, he showed fake affection, as if he was afraid that Qu Moyu would dislike Shen Dai as a substitute, “A-dai, you’re back.”

Shen Dai endured his disgust and called out “Father”, then his eyes traveled past You Xinghai and saw the person behind him.

Even though many photos and videos of him are posted all over the internet, even if Shen Dai thought he had already been forced to appreciate this person’s beautiful face and beautiful life from all angles, it still couldn’t compare to the shock the moment he saw the actual person himself. 

You Baiyue is as beautiful as an AI modeling mannequin. It seems that even the radian of the bangs is the optimal solution selected through repeated deduction by the algorithm, yet the moment he smiled, they turned lively.

You Baiyue was smiling in his direction. Of course, this smile was for Qu Moyu.

“Yu-ge.” You Baiyue leisurely walked over, he naturally and briskly faced Qu Moyu’s gazes without the slightest timidity, “It’s been a long time.”

What kind of familiarity or courage does it take for an omega to look at a top-tier alpha so calmly? This wasn’t a psychological problem but a physiological problem, it can be compared to whether people will be afraid of seeing a tiger. 

Qu Moyu smiled and said, “I see you often on the internet.”

“Stop humiliating me. I’m just accepting some advertising offers to earn some allowance. How can I be compared with President Qu, who attends to hundreds of important matters every day?” You Baiyue’s eyes are smiling and charming, they were full of enthusiasm, and there seems to be a kind of casual flirtation. His eyes shifted from Qu Moyu to Shen Dai and his expression remained very calm, “Hello, Shen, Dai.”

Shen Dai smiled and nodded, “Hello, nice to meet you.” He smelled a trace of his tuberose pheromones, which was fresh, sweet, and noble. Not to mention alphas, even he liked the smell. At the same time, he also smelled the alpha pheromones of hazelnut belonging to Qu Chengchen.

You Baiyue sized up Shen Dai quietly with a kind of alienated gaze that did not carry any rudeness. He smiled softly and seemed to have something he wanted to say but remained silent. 

Shen Dai doesn’t consider himself as overly sensitive, but You Baiyue’s attitude might be more contemptuous than Qu Chengchen’s intentional embarrassment. Of course, he can also understand that You Baiyue’s feelings towards him must be very complicated.

“Where’s Chengchen?” Qu Moyu asked.

“He has some other business, he’ll arrive late.” You Baiyue glanced at his mobile phone and said, “He’ll be here soon.”

“You guys chat first. President You and I will go talk about something.” Qu Moyu made a “please go ahead” gesture to You Xinghai. 

You Xinghai said, “Xiao-Yue, take A-Dai to rest.”

“Okay.”

After they left, Shen Dai and You Baiyue were the only two left at the spot, the atmosphere froze for a while. Shen Dai was completely unafraid of awkwardness so he stood there dumbfounded. He did promise Qu Moyu to test You Baiyue, but in any case, to start the conversation, You Baiyue had to drop his guard and be the one to speak first. He believed that You Baiyue would speak first.

Sure enough, You Baiyue said, “Do you want me to take you to meet your relatives?” 

Shen Dai glanced at the relatives present, they were all sizing him up secretly, but no one took the initiative to come forward. Of course, he’s just an illegitimate son of You Xinghai who had been cast aside like an old shoe. Now there are benefits to be reaped, he was brought back. No one really wants to establish any relationship with him.

“Don’t bother.” Shen Dai said.

“I heard you work in the Rare Earth-Elements Research Institute of Xingzhou? What a xueba.”

“Not really, it’s just an ordinary job.” 

You Baiyue looked at him with his head tilted and said with a smile, “Are you scared to look at me, or do you dislike me?”

Shen Dai looked at You Baiyue’s eyes and smiled politely, “No, it’s just that it’s the first time we’ve met. We still haven’t found a suitable conversational topic yet.”

“A suitable conversational topic.” You Baiyue seemed to have heard a joke and said with a laugh, “There are many topics between us, such as the relationship between our parents, the relationship between us, and our relationship with the Qu brothers. In fact, it’s actually quite amazing. There are so many relations between us, yet today is our first meeting.”

Shen Dai nodded and thought it was very reasonable, “Indeed, then which topic do you want to talk about?” 

“You have nothing to ask me?” You Baiyue asked back.

Shen Dai pondered for a moment, “Why did you break off the engagement? This is what you think I’m most curious about, right?”

“Are you not curious?”

“I’m curious, but I don’t like to pry into other people’s privacy.” 

You Baiyue gently raised her eyebrows, “You are… a little interesting.”

“If I know your privacy, then I’ll have to return the favor with my privacy.” Shen Dai looked at You Baiyue dully, “Why don’t you just get to the point and say what you want to know from me? I’ll see if I can tell you.”

“It’s really convenient to talk to smart people.” You Baiyue said with a smile, “I want to know if you slept with Yu-ge?”

“No.” 

“Do you want him to mark you?”

“We have a cooperative relationship. I believe you know very well.”

“You avoided the question.”

Shen Dai frowned slightly, “I have already answered one of your questions. Now it’s my turn to ask. Why did you break off the engagement?” From the perspective of the vast majority of people, nobody will not want to marry a top-tier alpha. 

You Baiyue’s eyes drifted aimlessly to the distance, “What, he didn’t tell you?”

“No.”

“He said he would never give away his mark.” You Baiyue gently pursued his lips and carried a bit of ridicule.

Shen Dai was not surprised by this answer. 

“If I can’t even get his mark, why should I?”

“… Is it that important?”

“The mark of ordinary alphas is certainly not important. Perhaps even the wealth of the whole family of three generations is no more than a house in the city, but the Qu family…” You Baiyue blinked at Shen Dai.

“Then, have you got what you wanted now?” Shen Dai looked at You Baiyue with calm eyes, but it also had a sense of aloofness to it, “What Qu Chengchen gave you was just a temporary mark.” 

You Baiyue immediately showed a shocked expression.