The Sickly Omega Is No Longer Pretending to Be Good/Obedient - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Jingling the Bell – “Aren’t You Broke?”

“Wheat?”

Shen Qiudu’s raven-black eyes were fixed on Wen Jiangchu in front of him, not missing a single one of his expressions.

But Wen Jiangchu’s smile was too composed; his lies were flawless.

“Qiudu… are you a little disappointed?”

Wen Jiangchu gave an awkward laugh, lowering his eyes as if deliberately avoiding Shen Qiudu’s scrutiny.

Or perhaps, it was actually to cover up his guilt.

Hearing this, Shen Qiudu’s face darkened. He looked away, staring straight at the screen where the auction items were about to be displayed, and sneered inwardly.

He shouldn’t have held any expectations for Wen Jiangchu.

Yet, when Shen Qiudu actually heard those words from Wen Jiangchu’s mouth, his heart still froze for a moment.

However, that lasted only for a few seconds.

Like a fish drowning on land, the last remaining hope was completely extinguished.

In fact, Shen Qiudu should have understood when he saw the examination report hidden under the white paper that Wen Jiangchu’s intentions toward him were not genuine.

In this world with such a clear class divide, who would be unconditionally good to him? Even his own biological father would try to sell him to pay off gambling debts.

Except for a fool.

And his mother was that fool.

So, no matter how dissatisfied he was with Wen Jiangchu, Shen Qiudu could only swallow everything for now. Once Wen Jiangchu found his mother, he would immediately take her and run away.

For now, Shen Qiudu could only play dumb.

But he could also use other methods to make Wen Jiangchu uncomfortable.

Shen Qiudu remained silent for a long time, then suddenly let out a light laugh. His cold eyes were immersed in the darkness, making his emotions indiscernible.

“Of course not,” Shen Qiudu answered, feigning a lightness of tone.

“Wheat is a main source of food. How could I be disappointed?”

“The wind passing over the wheat field brings the scent of the earth and sunshine. The surging wheat waves, the dimly visible tides, are like the hope of life.”

“Such a good pheromone is very suitable for you, Wen Jiangchu.”

If, your pheromone really is wheat.

Wen Jiangchu’s smile stiffened, and he pressed his lips together without responding.

The lights weren’t on in the room. The blue light projected from the screen reflected in Wen Jiangchu’s eyes, casting a shadow over him.

For some reason, Shen Qiudu felt inexplicably upset, a sense of low pressure. The person beside him also fell silent with him, looking down, appearing somewhat embarrassed and lonely.

But the current Shen Qiudu no longer wanted his compassionate nature to be deceived by Wen Jiangchu.

Overuse of the sympathy card only brings endless annoyance.

It’s like constantly complaining to others. Even friends and family will eventually become impatient.

Rather than letting both parties fall into a mutually damaging situation at the end, it’s better to hide all the pain from the beginning.

So, who was he to feel dissatisfied?

Shen Qiudu restrained the constantly surging emotions in his heart, forcing himself to look straight ahead.

Wen Jiangchu recovered his composure faster than Shen Qiudu expected and was about to speak, but Shen Qiudu interrupted him: “Then, Wen Jiangchu, do you know my pheromone?”

This was a question Shen Qiudu suddenly thought of. After all, he shouldn’t know yet that Xu Zhouye had told him about Wen Jiangchu investigating him, right?

Shen Qiudu was very curious about how Wen Jiangchu would answer.

“I know. It’s Trumpet Creeper.”

This time, he answered readily.

As if afraid Shen Qiudu might misunderstand, he added: “When you were unconscious, the doctor looked through the database to check the extent of your gland defect. I happened to see it.”

What a coincidence.

Perhaps with just that one glance, he was no longer just an ordinary homeless person to Wen Jiangchu, was he?

“Then do you like this scent?”

Wen Jiangchu was stumped by such a private question, his eyes widening slightly. “I… I…”

See? He can’t say it. He must be worried about letting something slip and revealing his true thoughts about me!

Shen Qiudu closed his eyes. He felt his breathing inexplicably getting heavy, and his nose tingled with suppressed tears.

“I… I really like it.”

Shen Qiudu immediately opened his eyes and looked at Wen Jiangchu. “What did you say?”

“I said, I really like it.”

“Shen Qiudu, do you remember what I said?”

“We are very fated! Even our pheromones are—”

“Shut up!”

Shen Qiudu suddenly stood up like a startled rabbit, pointing a finger at Wen Jiangchu. His fingertips even trembled slightly from an involuntary spasm.

He was shocked by Wen Jiangchu’s reckless speech, and he didn’t understand why he was saying such loving words to deceive him again!

Perhaps, this is his tactic to continue deceiving me!

Shen Qiudu, you absolutely cannot be fooled by him—

Although he kept trying to mask and hypnotize himself, Shen Qiudu still dared not look directly into Wen Jiangchu’s eyes.

Such straightforward loving words were like pouring a large basin of nutrient water on his withered heart. The subtly reviving sapling loosened the soil, making Shen Qiudu’s chest tingle.

“Wen Jiangchu, you… you are simply—”

The indignant words simply wouldn’t come out. His red-rimmed eyes and weak voice, however, made Wen Jiangchu stare at him in a trance, then casually grasp the hand Shen Qiudu had extended toward him.

Starting from the fingertips, then the fingers, Wen Jiangchu then enveloped Shen Qiudu’s entire hand. His body also slowly approached Shen Qiudu.

“What are you doing? Let go of me!”

Was this person finally going to lay a hand on him?!

“Qiudu, why are you shaking? Are you cold?”

“I’ll go adjust the air conditioning now and turn up the heat. Wait for me.”

Wen Jiangchu immediately let go of Shen Qiudu’s hand, picked up the remote control on the table, and pressed a few “beep” sounds, then turned on the lights in the room.

At this, the restlessness in Shen Qiudu’s heart completely cooled down.

He clenched his hanging hands and pretended to be calm, watching Wen Jiangchu walk toward him. He looked like nothing had happened, walking toward him as if asking for credit.

Shen Qiudu remained silent, picking up a nearby cushion and throwing it at him.

“Wen Jiangchu, stay away from me!”

What did Wen Jiangchu take him for? A plaything?

A kitten he teased when bored, happy to see him throw a tantrum?

He truly is a despicable, selfish, and hateful scumbag!

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Shen Qiudu looked over.

He saw several chefs, carrying dishes with names Shen Qiudu couldn’t even pronounce.

However, it was clear that the prices were exorbitant, and the ingredients were rare.

The last to appear was the small cake Shen Qiudu had initially refused.

“Mr. Wen, the dishes have been prepared according to your request.”

The chef smiled, intending to introduce the dishes, but upon meeting Shen Qiudu’s gloomy eyes, he instantly became flustered. He glanced down at the cushion on the floor and silently shut his mouth.

Wen Jiangchu cleared his throat, nodded, and signaled them to place the dishes in front of Shen Qiudu one by one.

“Alright, I know. You can leave now—”

Before he finished speaking, the door was completely closed.

Wen Jiangchu bent down to pick up the cushion, approached Shen Qiudu, and softened his voice: “Qiudu, please eat something before the auction starts.”

“You must have wasted a lot of energy throwing the cushion just now. Eat something good to replenish your strength, alright?”

“Don’t worry, these ingredients were delivered a few hours ago, and even the flour for the cake was chosen with today’s date. It’s definitely not anyone else’s leftovers!”

But after what just happened, Shen Qiudu had no appetite.

He deliberately kept a seat’s distance from Wen Jiangchu, lazily lifted his eyes to scan the dishes, and then moved his gaze away without any change in expression.

“I won’t eat. Tell them to take it away.”

Wen Jiangchu immediately moved one seat closer, leaning in. “What’s wrong? Don’t you like these? I’ll have them change the dishes.”

Shen Qiudu frowned and moved another seat away. “No need, Wen Jiangchu. No matter how many times you change them, I won’t eat.”

Seeing this, Wen Jiangchu followed him again. “Just one bite, one bite, alright?”

“I don’t want to!”

“Wen Jiangchu, are you really so idle?!”

Shen Qiudu snapped back angrily. He was about to move again when he realized he was already sitting at the far left of the sofa, and Wen Jiangchu’s arm was draped over the left armrest at some point, completely trapping Shen Qiudu between himself and the sofa.

Shen Qiudu was exasperated, but Wen Jiangchu seemed somewhat amused, opening his mouth as if he had won a game. “Can you eat something now?”

“This cake is delicious. When my grandmother was still alive, she would chase me around and feed it to me just like this.”

Shen Qiudu looked at Wen Jiangchu, who was still holding the bowl, feeling like he was punching cotton.

Shen Qiudu didn’t understand. Why was his tone so aggressive, so rude, yet Wen Jiangchu acted like nothing was wrong, not getting angry at all?

Was he really a fool?

Wen Jiangchu extended the cake further. Shen Qiudu lowered his head stiffly and took a bite. It was indeed delicious. The cream was sweet but not greasy, and the toppings were just right.

“Isn’t it delicious?”

“Mhm.”

Shen Qiudu mumbled in response. He thought the matter would end there, but Wen Jiangchu suddenly leaned closer to him. A large face abruptly appeared, startling Shen Qiudu into instinctively pulling back.

“Wen Jiangchu, what are you trying to do?!”

“There’s… cream here.”

Wen Jiangchu’s warm fingertip gently brushed the corner of Shen Qiudu’s lip. His exhaled breath intertwined with Shen Qiudu’s.

It was that familiar scent again, the same as the one Shen Qiudu had dreamed of earlier.

The pounding in his heart squeezed his ears, leaving Shen Qiudu no mind to spare for anything else. His cheeks were already completely flushed with embarrassment.

But Wen Jiangchu’s utterly serious expression seemed genuinely focused only on wiping the cream off Shen Qiudu.

Until Shen Qiudu watched Wen Jiangchu move away and his thin lips press against the fingertip stained with cream.

“What are you doing!?”

Shen Qiudu habitually grabbed the cushion and threw it, shouting in shock, trying to stop this farce.

But Wen Jiangchu merely rubbed his disheveled hair and smiled, saying: “We can’t waste it, Qiudu.”

Shen Qiudu’s face was completely red. He quickly turned his back to Wen Jiangchu and whispered, “Wen Jiangchu, you’re an idiot…”

And an idiot who is particularly skilled at stirring one’s heart.

Soon, the auction officially began.

As Wen Jiangchu had previously stated, all exhibits would first be brought to the second floor for Shen Qiudu to view. If Shen Qiudu liked something, he could keep it, and it wouldn’t be put up for auction.

But the current Shen Qiudu had no interest in those exhibits. His expression was listless, and his mind was solely preoccupied with the scene of Wen Jiangchu licking the cream from his lip just now.

And Wen Jiangchu by his side wasn’t faring much better. He was worried about why Shen Qiudu hadn’t shown interest in any of the exhibits. He had spent two days meticulously selecting these collections.

Could it be… because they were still too cheap?

His mother had once told Wen Jiangchu that when dealing with friends or lovers, especially family, he must offer the most precious things.

And at the same time, money was the most reassuring thing; he absolutely could not be stingy.

But Wen Jiangchu seemed to have encountered a dilemma of the century.

He realized that Shen Qiudu… didn’t seem to like money?

He cautiously glanced at Shen Qiudu’s expression when faced with the collections—

A Tang Sancai pottery horse, valued at $110 million, excavated from a Tang Dynasty imperial tomb, completely gilded and inlaid with sapphires. Shen Qiudu only looked at it for two seconds before moving his gaze away.

A Sapphire and Jadeite Necklace, valued at about $192 million, with interlocking double chains, inlaid with unheated Kashmir cornflower blue sapphires and Imperial Green jadeite beads. Shen Qiudu actually sighed.

An abstract oil painting, valued at about $140 million, created by a well-known foreign artist, incorporating gold foil and rare mineral pigments. He didn’t even spare it a glance.

“Qiudu?” Wen Jiangchu finally couldn’t hold back and tentatively spoke.

Shen Qiudu snapped back to attention. The redness at the back of his ears hadn’t faded, and he really didn’t want to engage with Wen Jiangchu right now.

He thought that he absolutely couldn’t be led by the nose by Wen Jiangchu like this. He had to figure out a way to make Wen Jiangchu taste his own medicine.

Suddenly, the voice of the auctioneer came from the screen again—

“The item for this exhibition is the Ming Yongle Blue and White Iron-Red Glaze Nine-Dragon Celestial Sphere Vase. It is 62 cm tall, 38 cm in diameter, completely unrestored, with a lustrous glaze, and the base is inscribed with the ‘Yongle Nian Zhi’ seal script. The starting bid is $8 million…”

Shen Qiudu raised an eyebrow and suddenly had an idea.

Didn’t Wen Jiangchu say he should treat the auction house like his own home?

Then, if he made Wen Jiangchu overpay for all the collections unreasonably, wouldn’t that give him a taste of his own medicine?

So, Shen Qiudu actively tugged at Wen Jiangchu’s clothes and pointed at the screen: “Wen Jiangchu, I want that.”

Wen Jiangchu was stunned for a moment. “You… want this one?”

“Mhm. Didn’t you say I could have anything I wanted?”

The expression on Wen Jiangchu’s face, in Shen Qiudu’s eyes, looked exactly like someone who had made a grand promise and was now being checkmated.

This scene only made Shen Qiudu feel immensely satisfied. Finally, Wen Jiangchu was also getting a taste of anxiety.

But Shen Qiudu didn’t know that Wen Jiangchu was actually about to go crazy with happiness.

Shen Qiudu finally liked an item!

He immediately slammed his hand on the table and called his assistant.

“Yes, that’s right. It must be acquired.”

“Over the estimated price? Do I look like someone who lacks money?”

“It is its blessing to be seen by Qiudu.”

Shen Qiudu frowned, looking at the person muttering in the corner. He felt that something was not quite right.

When he looked at the screen again, the exhibit was already gone, and Wen Jiangchu had returned to his side.

Seeing his normal expression, it seemed the number of items acquired was still not enough.

Shen Qiudu gritted his teeth and raised his hand again.

“This one, that one, and the ones that were just bought—I want them all.”

“Even the ones that were bought?”

“Mhm. I didn’t like them before, but I like them now. Is that a problem?”

“Wen Jiangchu, don’t forget what you said.”

“I am very easily persuaded by you.”

In the end, Wen Jiangchu barely hung up the phone with his assistant, and the auctioned items were not given a chance to be bid on by others.

It was as if the guests invited this time were merely props.

Shen Qiudu had been waiting to see Wen Jiangchu embarrassed, unable to pay, and begging him to stop.

But when those exhibits were truly piled high, filling the entire second-floor private room, Shen Qiudu was completely stunned. He dazed-ly poked his head out from the small mountain of items like a rabbit, watching Wen Jiangchu sign the papers readily.

“Wen Jiangchu, aren’t you broke?”

Wen Jiangchu, who had finished signing, tilted his head in confusion. “Broke… what does that mean?”

Shen Qiudu: ……?