CH 63

Title: 顶级掠食者 (Alpha Predator)

Author：水千丞 (ShuiQianCheng)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists ：沈岱 (Shen Dai -MC), 瞿末予 (Qu Moyu -ML)

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After leaving such a vicious sentence, Qu Moyu slammed the door and left. Before Shen Dai could clean up his heart that was crushed again and again, he hurried into the bedroom to see Qiuqiu.

Qiuqiu was crying and hiccuping. His face was covered with tears and snot. He looked very pitiful.

Shen Dai held Qiuqiu’s neck, carefully hugged him into his arms, and patted his back lightly: “Be good. Dad is here. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid.”

The pheromone released by Shen Dai calmed Qiuqiu’s emotions. The crying gradually weakened from yelping to whimpering. Qiuqiu’s small body twitched. His face flushed and his long eyelashes were stained with a string of little water droplets.

Shen Dai wiped Qiuqiu’s face with a tissue. After wiping his face, he wiped the clothes stained with tears and snot. But the more he wiped, the more water droplets dripped on the clothes and Shen Dai’s vision became blurred as he stared wide. It was from his own eyes. He quickly wiped away his tears. He kept telling himself that it was nothing. The severe pain when washing the marks without anaesthesia, the pain and discomfort all over the body, the sadness of going to the maternity examination alone, and never being able to do anything after giving birth to Qiuqiu. One hundred nights of sleep for a complete restless sleep were more torturous than Qu Moyu’s few words. But he survived all of them. He survived the weakest physical and psychological stage in his life. There was also a person here who he wanted to protect. Nothing else can defeat him after going through all that.

Shen Dai stayed up almost all night and couldn’t sleep at all. Qiuqiu’s mood was very unstable. He was so hungry that he wanted to drink milk. All night, Shen Dai was exhausted physically and mentally. He only dozed off for a bit intermittently until Xiao Die came back at noon.

Xiao Die was shocked when she saw Shen Dai’s blue and swollen eyes that she got into a state of depression: “Mr. Shen, what’s wrong with you? Is Qiuqiu keeping you awake at night again?”

Shen Dai nodded: “I ordered a takeaway. Please help me look after Qiuqiu for a while after dinner. I want to sleep.”

“Okay, hurry up and eat. And go to sleep after eating.”

Shen Dai clearly felt very hungry, but he couldn’t eat anything. So the takeaway food was too oily and it was full of spices, which was really hard for him to swallow.

“Mr. Shen, have you used Teacher Bai’s pheromone essential oil? Isn’t that able to appease Qiuqiu?”

“I used it. Maybe there are times when it doesn’t work.” Shen Dai couldn’t tell Xiao Die that Qiuqiu was frightened by his biological father. How ironic. The pheromone of the alpha father who was supposed to accompany and comfort the child’s growth induces horror in the child instead.

“That’s really troublesome. If Teacher Bai’s pheromone also fails in the future, what will Qiuqiu do?”

Shen Dai was also worried but there’s nothing he could do now.

Xiao Die realised that she shouldn’t mention this so she quickly changed the subject: “Mr. Shen, you know, I’m dying of anger today.”

“What’s up?”

“In the morning, we held an internal meeting in the research institute. I was quite excited because I was sitting in that position and was quite close to the prince. Wow, he’s so tall and handsome, with a unique aura. He deserves to be an S-class alpha.”

Shen Dai froze for a moment.

“As a result, he is very strange today. I think he’s a little bit deliberately picking faults and embarrassing Teacher Bai.”

“…”

“In the project seminar the day before yesterday, the prince praised Mr. Bai and our institute in front of Yan Mingxiu and the media. Every sentence was more beautiful than the other. As a result, he was the only one today whose words were obviously thorny. Professor Liu helped Teacher Bai, he almost made Professor Liu unable to come off the stage. I just don’t understand. Is he deliberately getting rid of grudges?”

Shen Dai put down the bowls and chopsticks with a sullen face. He couldn’t believe that Qu Moyu, who paid so much attention to his career, would avenge his personal revenge. He must know that his teacher is looked up to in academia and he is a highly respected existence everywhere. Although Bai Xiangwan is young, he is also an industry leader. He is a talent that all institutions are competing for. How could Qu Moyu embarrass him in public?

Xiao Die sighed, “It’s hard to guess what the boss is thinking and it was not easy for Teacher Bai.”

Shen Dai realised that Qu Moyu was angrier than he thought. If it wasn’t for him, neither the teacher nor Senior Brother Bai would have to suffer. He must think about what to do next. When Qu Moyu gives it some thought, he will definitely have some doubts about Qiuqiu’s origin. That far-fetched timeline. As long as he investigates a little, he will know everything.

What would happen if Qu Moyu knew that Qiuqiu was his child?

Shen Dai didn’t dare to think or predict. Staying away from Qu Moyu and isolating him and his children from any harm was the only thing he had to do.

Later in the day, Shen Dai received a call from Liu Xi and he intuited that the call was related to the meeting in the morning.

Sure enough, Liu Xi said hesitantly, “Ah Dai, does Xiao Qu know you’re here?”

Shen Dai thought to himself; More than knowing since he followed you to my house last night. But he couldn’t say it for the time being. Saying it would not solve any problems, but would make the teacher blame himself so he asked instead, “Why do you think so?”

“We had an internal meeting this morning. He picked on the lateness and made it a little unpleasant. In the evening, he invited me to dinner alone, saying that he wanted to communicate with me probably to make up for it. As a result, during the meal, he asked me about you.”

Shen Dai’s breath stagnated: “What did he ask about?”

“He didn’t ask things clearly but it’s about whether you should keep your position or not. He was obviously trying to test me.”

Shen Dai said in a low voice, “Teacher, I’ve caused you trouble.”

“No. Even if he knows that I help you settle here, he won’t do anything to me. But you have to be careful. Qiuqiu is an illegitimate child and for a family like them, it is a hidden danger and involves a lot of interests.”

“……I understand.”

This phone call made Shen Dai unable to sleep well all night. For him, the best choice now is to stay and work in the research institute in Lancheng, but the sudden appearance of Qu Moyu makes this road impossible. On the one hand, he wanted to give Qiuqiu a stable life. And furthermore, he always cared about his grandmother. Maybe he should go back to the capital and find a new job.

The cooperation between Xingzhou and Longke was officially signed. On Monday, most of the people in the research institute were pulled by bus to the mining area more than 60 kilometres away to participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Bai Xiangwan sent Shen Dai some photos of the scene and his words were full of complacency. This was an important achievement in his career and he was full of hope for the future of the project.

In the photo, Qu Moyu inevitably appeared. But Shen Dai tried to ignore it and sincerely congratulated Bai Xiangwan.

Bai Xiangwan suddenly made a voice call.

The phone was connected. It was quiet on the other end and Bai Xiangwan’s voice was a little tired: “I got up at five or six in the morning. The meeting is finally over. I’m in the lounge.”

“You’re so busy.” Shen Dai said with a smile, “It may be even busier once the project starts.”

“There’s nothing to be busy about. It’s a waste of time to hold such a useless conference.” Bai Xiangwan yawned, “I’ve been in reception for the past few days and I didn’t get to see you… and Qiuqiu. How is Qiuqiu? Is he still awake?”

“Much better. Your pheromone essential oils are useful.”

“That’s good. The mining area is a bit far from the city. We will be staying here at night. Xiao Die’s phone is out of power. She asked me to tell you just now.”

“Okay, let’s celebrate when you come back. And congratulations again, senior brother.”

“I hope you will participate in this project. I have also talked with the teacher. When the time is right, I will deal with your transfer.”

Shen Dai was silent for two seconds, then said in a low voice, “Well, I’ll talk about it when I’m ready.”

Xiao Die didn’t come back today and Qiuqiu was rarely very good. He fell asleep after nine o’clock. This personal time was hard-won, so Shen Dai started to organise and update his resume.

It was almost eleven o’clock when Shen Dai was also sleepy. He took a shower and was about to go to bed when the doorbell rang suddenly.

Shen Dai’s heart jumped quickly with the rhythm of the doorbell. It’s so late, who will come? He’s afraid if it’s…

He jumped out of bed and wandered nervously around the bedroom door a few times. He had a hunch in his heart and he didn’t even want to see who was outside. But letting the doorbell ring like this would wake Qiuqiu. In desperation, he had to walk over. Through the door’s peephole, he saw Qu Moyu standing outside the door.

In the dim corridor and the twisted image from the peephole, the tall man wrapped in the black coat clearly set off the atmosphere of a thriller. At least for Shen Dai, the appearance of Qu Moyu was enough for him to panic. He turned around and pressed his back against the door. He breathes evenly.

The doorbell also stopped ringing.

The two stood tacitly separated by a door and waited quietly.

After a long time, Qu Moyu’s voice sounded: “Open the door. I don’t want to disturb the neighbourhood.”

Shen Dai said calmly: “You promise me that you won’t scare my child again.”

Qu Moyu clenched his fist and said solemnly, “I won’t. I just want to talk to you.”

Shen Dai had no choice but to open the door.

Qu Moyu came and stepped inside uninvited as sturdily as last time. His clothes were slightly covered in dust. The cold air of an early spring night between his clothes made Shen Dai shiver.

Shen Dai stood on guard, watching Qu Moyu take off his coat and throw it on the sofa. He then sat down, as if this was his own house.

“Sit.” Qu Moyu gestured to the single sofa beside him with his chin.

Shen Dai’s scalp was numb. He walked over slowly and sat down.

Qu Moyu put a document folder in his hand on the coffee table. The emotions on his face can’t be read. His tone was calm, but those dark, deep, bottomless pupils stared straight at Shen Dai. Just him leaning forward gave Shen Dai a fear of being stalked by a beast.

Qu Moyu motioned for Shen Dai to look at the document folder with his eyes.

Shen Dai picked up the document folder and slowly pulled out the documents inside. When the word ‘Shen Yue’ appeared in his sight, Shen Dai felt his blood coagulate and his movements froze.

Shen Yue is Qiuqiu’s given name.

“I checked his date of birth. He is my son. If you don’t admit it, we’ll do a paternity test.” Qu Moyu raised his jaw slightly, without any hint of anger. He created a kind of crossbow arrow that was hidden. He didn’t even realise that in the field of non-fatality, it was his usual attitude at the negotiating table, he said calmly, “You owe me a lot of explanations.”​​​​

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Next update: 2022.06.27

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*Translator’s note: I think Senior Brother Bai likes SD. Sadly, he won’t have a chance because of that shameless piece of fish! Who needs to explain anything to him? Huh! Eat my foot! -K