“I’ll go resign from my position as a legal assistant at the company tomorrow,” Jiang Xinglan said, his tone somewhat anxious. “I can do everything I can to help you. Going through the normal legal channels will be very difficult at the very least, with me around, you’ll be able to avoid some pitfalls.”
“But…” Ji Qiu knew the other man hadn’t even graduated yet, and that the position had probably been arranged by his advisor. If he offended his advisor, things would surely become awkward for both sides. “If you quit so rashly… won’t it affect you?”
Jiang Xinglan fell silent for a moment.
“I’m fine,” he said. “It’s you all…” He let out a sigh.
He had known about this matter before it wasn’t the first time but still…
Being an observer and being a participant were ultimately two different things.
He couldn’t explain to the people in front of him what exactly had happened over the past two months. Yet when he stood before them again at this moment, he felt an inescapable sense of helpless guilt.
Jiang Xinglan knew that objectivity was what he needed most. But suddenly, more than ever before, he felt that the “remaining objective” he had once taken pride in had become incredibly difficult.
Xu Yishu had told him some things, and he had guessed the rest himself. Because of that, he could no longer pretend nothing had happened and continue observing calmly. Every second at work felt like a reminder that he was a despicable accomplice.
His workload at the office had been fairly light, and the legal director had even told him this matter didn’t concern him, that the other party didn’t need to mobilize the legal department at all to resolve it. He had once wondered how the company would handle it, but he never imagined they would choose such a filthy smear tactic.
As for why it was a smear, he only learned the full process later.
He also couldn’t figure it out back then, he had merely been curious and wanted to ask the other party why they thought he was “terrifying.”
Jiang Xinglan closed his eyes briefly. He had rushed over in a hurry, his thoughts still a tangled mess, but his intuition kept telling him that he had to help them, that things couldn’t continue like this.
There was still a trace of pheromone on him, extremely faint, not yet fully restrained.
Jiang Xinglan’s pheromone was a rare feather-white grape wine scent. At first, it carried a sharp sweetness; then the sweetness deepened, tinged with a slight cloying note. But the bubbles balanced out that heaviness, followed by a rich yet fresh wine aroma. Because its shelf life was extremely short, it wasn’t the heavy depth of long-aged wine, but rather the clear, crisp feeling of air after an autumn rain.
The scent was too faint. Only Ji Qiu, who was standing closer, lightly wrinkled his nose; no one else noticed it.
The others didn’t know what had happened. After all, Jiang Xinglan’s previous stance could almost be described as opposing theirs, and whether he could be fully trusted was still questionable.
“I know you have doubts about me. I can—”
Jiang Xinglan, who was usually calm and self-possessed, now spoke with a rare hint of fluster. He steadied himself, as if determined to prove something. Instead of saying more, he simply took out his phone and called his advisor.
Under the shocked gazes of everyone present, Jiang Xinglan truly, word by word, rejected the remaining legal work, right in the face of his puzzled, once-proud advisor.
“I’m not on that side anymore,” Jiang Xinglan said, his voice even a little urgent. “I really want to help you.”
“Why?” Lai Qiutong asked calmly. “Someone like you should be a rational self-interest maximizer. You don’t seem like the type to hate evil so passionately. Why did you suddenly decide this?”
Jiang Xinglan couldn’t really explain it himself, what exactly it was for.
So much had happened during this period that his thoughts were in complete disarray; he didn’t know where to begin. But whenever he recalled the scene from the moment he pushed open the door earlier, the feeling only grew stronger.
He didn’t want to see something like that again.
These Omegas… including Liang Yan, they hadn’t done anything wrong. Being tortured because of their physiology was bad enough, yet the leading inhibitor company was unwilling to do anything more for them, treating them like discarded, useless chess pieces.
Just as everyone was still half-believing, half-doubting, Xu Yishu—whom Liang Yan had told to rest properly earlier called again.
“Hello?” It had only been half a day, but his voice already sounded much better. “Is that Liang Yan?”
Liang Yan responded, still a little worried. “Are you feeling better?”
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line, but Xu Yishu quickly returned to his normal tone. “Mm, much better. You were looking for me earlier because…?”
Liang Yan briefly explained the current situation to him. Given that Jiang Xinglan was still there, he hadn’t wanted to say much but at the end of the call, Xu Yishu brought it up himself.
“Jiang Xinglan is with you right now, isn’t he?”
Liang Yan was momentarily puzzled. “Yeah.”
On the other end of the line, the soft-voiced Omega spoke with a hint of helplessness. “You can… trust him.”
“Trust me.”
After hanging up Xu Yishu’s call, Liang Yan discussed it with the others. Coupled with Jiang Xinglan’s almost impulsive actions just now, they ultimately decided to try trusting him.
“By the way, I want to ask an off-topic question would that be okay?” During a pause in the conversation, Jiang Xinglan suddenly walked over and asked Liang Yan, his expression full of confusion.
Liang Yan nodded.
“Did I used to look… very fierce?” There was visible doubt on Jiang Xinglan’s face.
“Huh?” Liang Yan didn’t understand why he suddenly asked that, and answered honestly. “No.”
Hearing this, Jiang Xinglan didn’t relax—he looked even more perplexed.
“Then was I very cold or unapproachable?” He had always thought this was something he handled best, but now he couldn’t help doubting himself.
“…Not really.” Today, no matter how Liang Yan looked at Jiang Xinglan, he felt strange, as if the impeccably gentlemanly man from before wasn’t him at all.
“Alright.” Jiang Xinglan stopped asking, nodded apologetically, and said, “Sorry to bother you.”
Liang Yan waved it off to show he didn’t mind.
Just as he was about to stand up to get some water, a long-unfelt wave of nausea and dry retching surged up again. He quickly covered his mouth and sank back into the chair.
Although Ji Qiu had seen this quite a few times recently, every time it happened he was still startled. He hurried over at sprinting speed with a cup of water, handed it to Liang Yan, and pressed him back into the chair.
Liang Yan himself remained quite calm. He took the cup, moistened his lips, and drank a little.
Jiang Xinglan couldn’t help recalling that Liang Yan had done the exact same thing back at the restaurant.
A certain suspicion began to surface in his mind.
But that didn’t seem right—two Omegas together should basically have almost no chance of pregnancy…
He mocked himself and flung the frightening thought away. “Have you not been feeling well lately?”
Liang Yan thought about it. Recently, his body had been taken care of so well it couldn’t be better. “No.”
“Then…” Jiang Xinglan looked troubled.
Liang Yan suddenly realized what Jiang Xinglan had misunderstood.
Since they had decided to trust him, there was no longer a need to keep certain secrets hidden.
It had to be said that Xu Yishu was indeed very trustworthy. Even though he clearly had some kind of relationship with Jiang Xinglan that they didn’t know about, he still kept Ji Qiu’s secret tightly sealed.
Liang Yan exchanged a look with Ji Qiu, and they nodded in tacit agreement.
Liang Yan was about to tell Jiang Xinglan the truth directly when Ji Qiu, who had been silent just now suddenly popped up and motioned for Liang Yan not to speak yet.
Ji Qiu stepped forward, looked at Jiang Xinglan, and abruptly asked, “You just went to mark Xu Yishu, didn’t you?”
Jiang Xinglan froze for a moment. Xu Yishu hadn’t explained things very clearly on the phone, and there were still some threads he hadn’t sorted out. He had originally planned to come help first, but hadn’t expected Ji Qiu to call it out so directly.
Ji Qiu cracked his knuckles, looking like he was enjoying the show. “I can tell at a glance it was your first time marking someone, right? No experience. I do, so let me explain.”
Hearing this, Liang Yan stopped drinking and shot Ji Qiu a cold glance.
So you marked someone else before marking me?
Liang Yan let out a chilly cough.
Ji Qiu stiffened. “No, Yan Yan! Listen to my explanation! I—!”
Liang Yan screwed the lid onto the thermos and tossed it at him. “Shut up.”
Ji Qiu caught the cup, looking aggrieved.
His earlier smugness faded quite a bit, but after glancing at Jiang Xinglan, who had been left standing aside and still didn’t know what was going on, he continued stirring up trouble anyway. “Don’t lie. We’re the same kind. You can fool those Omegas, but I saw through it at a glance.”
It was probably Jiang Xinglan’s first time marking, and he hadn’t controlled his strength or his pheromones very well. Although the scent wasn’t strong and ordinary Omegas couldn’t smell it, those of the same kind were instinctively repelled. Another Alpha’s pheromones in the same space were a blatant threat to them—of course Ji Qiu could smell it.
Jiang Xinglan didn’t have time to process the word “same kind” just yet. Right now, that wasn’t his biggest concern.
He hadn’t expected to be exposed so directly. He let out a quiet sigh and didn’t deny it. “…Yes.”
Ji Qiu blinked and suddenly tossed out an unrelated question. “Then do you think he’s suitable?”
Jiang Xinglan fell silent.
Ji Qiu seemed as if the question had just slipped out casually. He quickly smiled and changed the subject.
But only now did Jiang Xinglan begin to feel that something was off.
He reviewed the earlier conversation between the two of them and pulled Ji Qiu’s phrase “same kind” back into focus.
Right—who other than an Alpha could detect pheromones that carried hostility toward their own kind?
And thinking back to Liang Yan’s reactions those two times, if his guess could be confirmed, it would no longer seem strange at all.
Coupled with the fact that Xu Yishu had been evasive about this matter before…
One of Jiang Xinglan’s strengths was his strong sense of logic and once he reached a conclusion, he wouldn’t doubt himself. After a brief moment of contemplation, he finally raised his head and asked Ji Qiu, “You’re an Alpha?”
Ji Qiu got exactly the reaction he’d been hoping for. His eyes lit up with excitement.
He then took an affected, aristocratic sip of tea, and, looking at Jiang Xinglan’s stunned expression, replied with cheerful elegance, “Yes, indeed.”
At that moment, Ji Qiu, whose mindset was basically that of a child, thought to himself:
Even though this person isn’t a romantic rival anymore, this feeling of finally getting payback is really, really satisfying!
