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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Shen Dai had a hunch that You Baiyue would come to harass him again, but he didn’t expect it to happen so soon. After he got off work that afternoon and he had just walked out of the door of the institute, You Baiyue came out of nowhere.
“What do you want from me?” Shen Dai walked forward with a sullen face, “I can’t help you. And I won’t help you.”
“I just want to establish a relationship with you.” You Baiyue followed with a smile. He said, “The situation is different now. My family is at a disadvantage. And you are about to become the wife of the Qu family. So I must hurry up and flatter you.”
Shen Dai simply didn’t know how to deal with people like You Baiyue. He inexplicably remembered an alpha cousin of Qu Moyu whom he had met at the Qu family’s New Year’s Eve. She had an enviable and eloquent demeanour. He always thought that children raised by wealthy families would have high self-esteem. This is true. But at the same time, some people have extremely high self-confidence and motivation and they are not afraid of being rejected at all. They do not even have the awareness that they will be despised. They would only do what they want to do and say what they want to say. Such a person is You Baiyue. How much money and favour were piled up for such a high and wanton character.
He thought he would gloat over the bankruptcy of Chuanghai, but in fact, You Baiyue still looked bright and beautiful. They must have been prepared to transfer their assets beforehand. He has been trying to avoid You Baiyue. It is precisely because this half-blooded younger brother will arouse his jealousy and inferiority. During many of his sleepless nights, he thinks of ‘the knife’ that Qu Moyu had stabbed into his heart. He couldn’t help not to think that if he was similar to You Baiyue, if he had such a family background and such a pheromone level, if he was an omega worthy of an S-class alpha, Qu Moyu would not despise him like that.
The education he received from childhood to adulthood encouraged him not to deny himself due to objective factors or the negativity projected by others. He had learnt not to belittle himself and not to judge ability based on pheromone hierarchy. But after all, he is a person living in the real world. Only when there were inevitable comparisons did he realise how fragile his hard-earned self-confidence is.
So he must stay away from You Baiyue as soon as possible while he can still hold back his temper.
However, You Baiyue followed him relentlessly: “Brother, don’t be so stubborn. My dad is already bankrupt. You should be relieved that I’m so miserable. A house under my name has been taken due to the debt. Oh, is that you are jealous? I didn’t go to Brother Yu to hook up with him, you know…”
Shen Dai paused. He looked at You Baiyue with cold eyes: “Anything you do with him has nothing to do with me. I’m not involved in this. Don’t harass me again!”
“…I know that Brother Yu likes you.” You Baiyue murmured, “He said it to me himself.”
Shen Dai frowned.
“I envy you so much.” You Baiyue suddenly smiled bitterly, “Maybe you think it’s ridiculous of what I had said to you at the time and it seemed like I was very experienced. But I couldn’t catch an alpha myself. As a result, you who still look like you don’t even want one already caught one. It’s quite annoying to be honest.”
“…”
“By the way, what’s the name of my little nephew?”
Thinking of Qiuqiu, Shen Dai’s eyes also softened unconsciously: “Qiuqiu.”
“Qiuqiu… that’s so cute.” You Baiyue smiled, “When can I meet him? I’ll give him a big red envelope.”
Shen Dai didn’t answer.
You Baiyue pouted in disappointment: “I really can’t figure out how you gave birth to him. Didn’t you wash off the mark?”
Shen Dai naturally wouldn’t answer this question.
That expressionless expression is really worth looking at for You Baiyue. He pursed his lips and said softly: “I just don’t understand why he likes you. He even broke off the marriage for you and doesn’t care that you are just an ordinary alpha. He would also tell the world about his relationship with you. He also said that he will ‘mark’ you.”
“There will be no more ‘marking’ between us.” Shen Dai felt chills just hearing the word ‘mark’.
You Baiyue stared at Shen Dai. His eyes looked resentful: “Brother Yu once said that he would never give anyone a ‘mark’ in his life. The first time it happened was because he was schemed against. But this time, he is serious. Do you know how much I want to be ‘marked’? I can’t figure out which step I took that was wrong or where was I not qualified? Where was I not as good as you? In fact, I don’t even hate you. I’m just not reconciled.”
“You can ask him about that.” Shen Dai also wanted to know what Qu Moyu was thinking about, “The more people want something, the more they will be tortured. Is it a good thing to get the ‘mark’ of an S-class alpha? They stand at the top of the food chain and can eat people from where they stand.”
You Baiyue was stunned.
Shen Dai took two steps back: “Don’t come to me again.”
At the moment of turning around, You Baiyue stopped him again: “Yes. They are standing at the top of the food chain. So the S-class alpha is dubbed as the ‘top predator’ by the world. But I never thought so.”
Shen Dai stopped in his tracks.
You Baiyue looked at Shen Dai’s back. His eyes gradually calmed down: “The real ‘top predator’ should be the one who can tame the S-class alpha and control the strongest beasts on the planet. I wish you to be that person.”
Shen Dai’s heart trembled.
***
When he got home, Shen Dai put a bunch of peonies that he had just bought at the flower shop on the street into a vase and brought Qiuqiu to watch the flowers together.
Qiuqiu grabbed the half-open flower bud with his small hand. Shen Dai smelled the faint scent of ebony wood on Qiuqiu’s body and couldn’t help but think of the rainy night when Qu Moyu brought the Epiphyllum to see him. At least at that moment, he believed that Qu Moyu really wanted to treat him well. He feels a little moved due to the action done by the CEO of the dignified Xingzhou. He stunned him and it seems like there is no other explanation to justify his actions.
But he couldn’t accept it from the bottom of his heart. He couldn’t accept the possibility that Qu Moyu might l\have feelings for him.
While indulging in his thoughts, the nanny came out of the kitchen with the food: “Mr. Shen, it’s time to eat.”
Shen Dai came back to his senses: “Is Qiuqiu not full yet?”
“He really eats a lot.” The nanny laughed.
Shen Dai put Qiuqiu on the rocking chair and sat beside him, intending to interact with him while eating. But Qiuqiu was making trouble. He insisted on being held by Shen Dai. As long as he put him down, he would make trouble and the meal was stopped.
At this moment, the doorbell rang. Shen Dai had an intuition that it was Qu Moyu.
Sure enough, Qu Moyu entered the door with one large bag and another small bag. Every time he came, he would bring all kinds of things – for Shen Dai and for Qiuqiu.
“Mr. Qu, have you eaten yet?” The nanny took the bag in his hand and asked respectfully.
“I’ve eaten. I had a light meal at the company and I came over right after I’m free.” Qu Moyu was familiar with the living conditions in the apartment. He changed his slippers and walked over to sit next to Shen Dai, “Ah Dai, you still haven’t finished eating.”
Shen Dai lowered his head and took a bite of the dish: “I’m almost done.”
The nanny explained: “Qiuqiu has been wanting Mr. Shen to hold him. Oh, this meal has been going on for almost an hour.”
Qu Moyu looked at him and glanced at Qiuqiu: “Stinky boy not letting Dad eat.” He stretched out his hand and tapped Qiuqiu’s cheek, “I’ll hold him. You eat well.”
“No…”
Shen Dai was about to stop him but Qu Moyu naturally held Qiuqiu in his arms.
Qiuqiu didn’t cry or resist.
Shen Dai was stunned. Qu Moyu couldn’t wait to ask the nanny to spray all of Qiuqiu’s things with the perfume made from his own gland fluid. It was very light at first, but the concentration gradually increased. Shen Dai knew that there was no way to go around it. It seems that this trick is really useful. He also suspected that Qu Moyu had been here when he was not at home, maybe more than once. Otherwise, he would not have held Qiuqiu so confidently and Qiuqiu was not surprised.
Qu Moyu walked around the house with Qiuqiu in his arms and he became a lot more skilled at coaxing the child. It was unknown as to what Qiuqiu was blabbering about in exchange.
The nanny said happily: “That’s great. Qiuqiu and Mr. Qu are getting closer and closer.”
At this time, Qu Moyu answered the phone and said a few words. He asked the nanny to bring his tablet over. He stood in front of the table, holding the phone between his face and shoulder. Meanwhile, he was swiping the screen of the tablet with his hand while coaxing Qiuqiu who is buckled in his other arm.
Qiuqiu lay on Qu Moyu’s forearm like a little monkey, sucking his fingers intently.
Shen Dai couldn’t stand it anymore: “Why are you holding the child like this? Be careful, he might fall.”
Qu Moyu said softly: “No, it’s fine.” Then he immediately changed his tone of voice to the one speaking with him on the phone, “I’m not talking to you. I said that to my wife. Um, I’m reading it. Another document is also handed to me.”
Shen Dai looked at Qu Moyu holding their child with one arm while he’s on official business and was a little dazed for a while. This was a picture that appeared in his dreams before. Such a beautiful dream. It was the most beautiful fantasy ever. The gap between the beauty of this dream and reality is so cruel that when he really saw this scene happen before his eyes, his first reaction was only heartache.
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Next update: 2022.08.25
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*Translator’s note: You Baiyue has a good thinking but his heart is not pure that’s why he ended up losing it all. At least, that’s from my personal point of view. -K