The Sickly Omega Is No Longer Pretending to Be Good/Obedient - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Ringing the Bell – “They Escaped”

Shen Qiudu woke up in his own room. He stretched his body and rubbed his sleepy eyes, only to feel a patch of light being blocked.

It was Wen Jiangchu, standing with his back to him at the desk, looking down at something.

Shen Qiudu opened his mouth, but his dry throat couldn’t produce any sound. So, he simply got up and quietly walked towards Wen Jiangchu, trying to peek over his shoulder.

The sunlight streamed into the room through the window. Wen Jiangchu’s shoulders perfectly covered Shen Qiudu’s figure. Due to Wen Jiangchu’s height, Shen Qiudu had to strain to stand on his tiptoes just to get his head past Wen Jiangchu’s shoulder.

However, Shen Qiudu underestimated Wen Jiangchu’s reflexes.

The moment he barely showed a sliver of his eye, Wen Jiangchu immediately reacted and turned around quickly. Unexpectedly, Shen Qiudu’s nose hit Wen Jiangchu’s hard bone with a heavy thud. The sudden pain forced Shen Qiudu to retreat a few steps, finally collapsing onto the bed.

“Hiss… Ow—”

Shen Qiudu raised a hand to cover his nose, his eyebrows furrowing instinctively. Suddenly, his body was enveloped in a warm breath, followed by a pleasant scent.

“Qiudu! I’m so sorry, Qiudu, are you okay?”

Wen Jiangchu quickly half-knelt on the ground, slightly raising his head in concern to cup Shen Qiudu’s cheek, wanting to check on him, but Shen Qiudu subconsciously dodged his touch.

“I… I’m fine.”

“Wen Jiangchu, what were you looking at?”

Wen Jiangchu froze for a moment. He tucked the hand behind his back further in and smiled. “Does Qiudu want to know?”

Perhaps due to the boundaries crossed yesterday, Shen Qiudu’s mind was stuck. He nodded blankly, his cheeks flushed, and their intertwined breathing became the rising and falling waves covering the silence.

“Then hold out your palm.”

Shen Qiudu opened his hand to Wen Jiangchu. Suddenly, a flower, seemingly just picked, appeared in his palm—a Chinese trumpet creeper. There were even some unevaporated dewdrops clinging to the petals.

“Look, it’s the Chinese trumpet creeper.”

“Qiudu’s pheromone is this. Qiudu can take a sniff.”

Shen Qiudu’s breathing quickened. He stared intently at the flower in his palm, cautiously bringing it closer to his face.

Upon close inspection, the Chinese trumpet creeper had a slightly sweet, but not cloying, fragrance.

This scent instantly made Shen Qiudu’s mind explode. Past memories flooded his vision.

He remembered his first rut after his differentiation. The entire room was filled with this scent. His mother held him, trying her best to make him comfortable, and his father rushed in frantically with a cheap suppressant.

Everything felt like it was just yesterday.

But Shen Qiudu hadn’t smelled this scent in a long, long time.

The slum didn’t even have a clean place to settle, let alone plant flowers. After Shen Qiudu’s scent gland was removed, his father grew to hate seeing any flowers even more, because seeing them would remind him of the one million he should have gotten.

Shen Qiudu was also unwilling to see them again. If he accidentally brought a flower home, his mother would become the target of his father’s wrath and abuse once more.

Although in the end, those injuries would appear on Shen Qiudu’s body.

Recalling the memories, Shen Qiudu lowered his eyelashes and silently placed the Chinese trumpet creeper back into Wen Jiangchu’s palm.

“Thank you, but I don’t need it anymore.”

Shen Qiudu didn’t want to heal his scent gland, at least not now.

He knew that after the gland recovered, he might be forever trapped by Wen Jiangchu to be used as a carrier, and he was unwilling.

Shen Qiudu just wanted to be a living, free person.

Someone who could make his own decisions and would no longer be bound by anything.

Shen Qiudu quietly looked up at Wen Jiangchu’s expression. Sincerity couldn’t be faked. After last night’s incident, he couldn’t deceive himself that he hadn’t softened.

Shen Qiudu’s feelings towards Wen Jiangchu were now complicated, like being caught in a carefully woven dream, where everything meticulously crafted was too enchanting to let go.

But there are no shadows in a dream, and the current Shen Qiudu couldn’t see a future.

If his scent gland truly recovered, what exactly would Shen Qiudu be in Wen Jiangchu’s eyes? This kind of entanglement was the most fatal.

Once suspicion arises, it’s like a broken pearl. No matter how dazzling it is, the fractured cracks cannot be concealed.

Rather than this, it would be better not to start at all.

No matter how much he yearned, he couldn’t be consumed.

He crossed a boundary last night, and he shouldn’t do it again.

Shen Qiudu’s nerves were taut. The hands hanging by his sides were clenched into fists, a silent resistance. Against himself, and against Wen Jiangchu.

“Qiudu…”

Wen Jiangchu tenderly tried to reach out and touch Shen Qiudu’s face, but he was rejected and avoided again. The atmosphere fell silent.

“Doesn’t Qiudu want to get treated? A damaged scent gland can be especially uncomfortable during a rut.”

“I’m used to it. That pain is just child’s play to me.”

Shen Qiudu lowered his voice and asked, “And, doesn’t that treatment method carry any life risks?”

Wen Jiangchu’s heart skipped a beat. “You… you actually heard it all, didn’t you?”

Shen Qiudu nodded, his black pupils looking straight into Wen Jiangchu’s eyes. “Wen Jiangchu, you’ve lied to me twice now.”

“I’m sorry, I was just worried about you—”

“No need.”

Shen Qiudu interrupted Wen Jiangchu without hesitation, bracing himself to try and escape from the space Wen Jiangchu had confined him in, but it was useless.

“Wen Jiangchu, let me out.”

“Your scent gland hasn’t recovered, and your identity is very dangerous. Where are you going, Qiudu?”

“Staying by my side right now is the safest option.”

To prevent Shen Qiudu from leaving, Wen Jiangchu easily pushed Shen Qiudu into the corner of the bed, bracing his arms on either side of Shen Qiudu’s body, secretly increasing his strength, leaving Shen Qiudu no chance to leave.

Shen Qiudu turned his head and closed his eyes, clearly unwilling to engage with Wen Jiangchu. This action, however, instantly shattered Wen Jiangchu’s heart. He cupped Shen Qiudu’s chin with his large hand, for the first time violating Shen Qiudu’s wishes, forcing him to open his eyes and look at him.

“Shen Qiudu, did I do something wrong just now? Should I not have told you this?”

“Why… why are you suddenly treating me like this?”

“I thought last night you had already dropped your guard with me. Why did it change in just one night, just one night?”

Having experienced Shen Qiudu’s gentleness and overstepping intimacy last night, the massive sense of loss instantly sent Wen Jiangchu’s heart plummeting.

He didn’t understand. He just wanted a closeness and warmth like family. Shen Qiudu was so compatible with him, but he had exhausted every method, so why was it still not working?

Wen Jiangchu’s voice trembled. The breath he exhaled puffed onto Shen Qiudu’s face, instantly reminding him of the salty tears from last night.

Shen Qiudu didn’t answer but countered, “Wen Jiangchu, are you going to cry again?”

“I… I’m not.”

Wen Jiangchu took a deep breath, restraining his nearly collapsing emotions. His low, pressured voice made Shen Qiudu want to answer him, but what came out was a pale sigh.

Shen Qiudu was not good at comforting people, and certainly not someone he was destined to leave.

If this could make Wen Jiangchu give up on him, then so be it.

“Wen Jiangchu, have my parents been found?”

Wen Jiangchu’s breathing stopped. He looked up at Shen Qiudu in disbelief. “You…”

“Want to ask me how I know?”

Shen Qiudu smiled, suddenly moving closer to Wen Jiangchu’s face. The distance of less than three centimeters allowed him to clearly see his own reflection in Wen Jiangchu’s eyes.

Shen Qiudu could even feel what it was like for Wen Jiangchu’s hot, thin lips to intermittently brush against his cheek.

But Shen Qiudu’s target wasn’t there. It was the corner of a photo peeking out of his pocket.

“Wen Jiangchu, you’re a terrible actor.”

“This is the third time you’ve lied to me, Wen Jiangchu. You also don’t know how to lie.”

Wen Jiangchu watched as the photo was unfolded by Shen Qiudu, anxiously saying, “Qiudu…”

Shen Qiudu ignored his soft call and looked at the photo himself.

Just as he expected, the person in the photo was Shen Qiudu’s mother. However, she was not her usual gentle self. In the picture, she was slumped on the ground, crying, covering her head.

In front of her was his father, beaten black and blue, barely breathing.

Shen Qiudu’s head began to throb faintly and feel numb. His vision blurred, his face turned pale, and the fingers gripping the photo tightened with continuous force.

“Qiudu, Qiudu!”

Wen Jiangchu immediately snatched the photo away, trying to pull Shen Qiudu into his arms, but Shen Qiudu raised his hand to firmly push him back.

“They… where are they now?”

Shen Qiudu clenched his teeth, gasping heavily, taking a lot of effort to utter that sentence. His heart felt like it was torn into shreds, seemingly available for anyone passing by to step on.

“Qiudu—”

“Tell me! Where are they?!”

Shen Qiudu fiercely grabbed Wen Jiangchu’s shoulder. His dry lips were cracked, showing some streaks of red bl00d.

He wanted to cry, but no matter what, he couldn’t.

The scent gland behind his neck started to hurt again.

He suddenly deflated, sinking helplessly. Wen Jiangchu caught him, and he slumped onto his shoulder.

“Wen Jiangchu, take me there, please.”

“Take me there, and I’ll be obedient and cooperate with your treatment, okay?”

“Please…”

…

The ones who took Shen Qiudu’s parents were the Qin family from a neighboring city. The Qin family has always operated in the underworld, with countless underground establishments.

Shen Qiudu always thought the money his father owed was to a certain casino within Suzhou City, but in reality, Shen’s father coveted larger stakes and had long disdained the casinos in the slums. He had gone to the neighboring city to gamble with his gambling friends a long time ago.

“I checked. If your father hadn’t gone to the neighboring city, the money you earned would have been enough for his gambling. He wouldn’t have needed to steal the money you saved for suppressants.”

“So, my money became his ticket to the neighboring city?”

Wen Jiangchu nodded silently.

Shen Qiudu found it ridiculous that his own son’s life could be disregarded, just for the money to buy a boat ticket.

“We are not familiar with the neighboring city, but the Qin family’s violent debt collection is well known. Your father owes a full one million, and with compounding interest, it has now reached eleven million. Qiudu, there’s no way you can pay it back.”

Eleven million.

This number felt like a mountain in Shen Qiudu’s eyes, suffocating him.

Shen Qiudu remembered the time when it was his mother’s birthday, and he used the one hundred and ten yuan he had saved to buy her a new dress from a street vendor, only to be verbally abused half to death when his father found out.

Now, he himself owed eleven million!

“How dare he… how dare he!”

“The Qin family has their own set of rules for those who can’t pay back their debts. The more money owed, the more valuable the collateral needed, ranging from money to bodies.”

“So, Qiudu, you need to be psychologically prepared.”

Shen Qiudu knew that when he saw his father again, he might not even be a complete corpse, but he deserved it! He only needed to ensure his mother was safe, and everything would be alright.

The car rattled along in the dark night and soon arrived at the Qin family’s secret residential compound on the outskirts where these people were held.

Shen Qiudu was protected by Wen Jiangchu, who held his wrist as they got out of the car. However, the place, which was usually quiet, was now brightly lit and surrounded by people.

Wen Jiangchu frowned. The man in the center of the crowd turned around, spotted them, and quickly walked over.

Before coming here, Wen Jiangchu had already communicated with the person in charge of the Qin family, and after reaching an agreement, the Qin family agreed to release the people and set a time to meet Wen Jiangchu.

But now, the situation didn’t seem quite right.

“CEO Wen, I didn’t expect you to arrive so quickly. It’s a pity, though, you’re still one step too late.”

“What do you mean?”

The man named Qin leaned against a black sedan and lit a cigarette, taking a deep drag. “They escaped.”

“Someone leaked the news, I don’t know who. The woman is still here, but the man was taken away. They went through the dog hole in the backyard. By the time our people discovered it, it was already too late.”