Chapter 5: He Did Not Want to Let the Beast Out and Scare Shen…
In the end, Xie Chenzhou did not talk much with Shen Shuyi. He only told him that all the wedding arrangements would be according to his preferences and left both Zhao Jian’s and his own phone number with Shen Shuyi. They also added each other on Little Green Bubble. He said that if Shen Shuyi had any ideas about the wedding, he could contact him directly or tell Zhao Jian.
Shen Shuyi actually had no particular ideas about the wedding. After all, this was outside of his plans, and in his mind, it could not even be considered a “real wedding.” Still, he asked, “If I contact you, will I be disturbing your work?”
“Zhao Jian is busier,” Xie Chenzhou replied.
The implication was that Zhao Jian, as his secretary, usually had even more things to handle than he did.
Shen Shuyi thought that made sense. As a leader, most things are delegated to subordinates. It was normal that the subordinates would be busier than the leader.
“Alright,” Shen Shuyi said without hesitation. “If I have any ideas, I will contact you.”
Unknowingly, the two had returned to the sports field.
Shen Shuyi did not know where to take Xie Chenzhou next. He had asked earlier if Xie Chenzhou had eaten enough, but Xie Chenzhou had not answered.
Should he take him out to eat something else?
While Shen Shuyi was thinking, Xie Chenzhou suddenly asked, “Where is your dormitory?”
“Huh?” Shen Shuyi was startled. “You mean my dormitory?”
Xie Chenzhou asked, “Are you going back to the Shen residence tonight?”
“No, I live at school,” Shen Shuyi raised his hand and pointed toward the brightly lit student dormitory building not far away. “I live there. Across from it is the girls’ dormitory.”
“Our school only has two dormitory buildings in total,” Shen Shuyi said with a small smile.
Xie Chenzhou remembered the location.
He very much wanted to stay, to go back to the dormitory with Shen Shuyi, to leave his mark and scent on every personal item belonging to him. But he could not. He had no legitimate reason. Just like Zhao Jian had said, he had to be a gentleman, to restrain himself, to behave appropriately, to make the other person fully feel respected.
Xie Chenzhou was simply obsessive when it came to feelings… No, he was obsessive only toward Shen Shuyi.
But he knew what restraint meant.
The difference between humans and animals is that humans know how to restrain their desires, how to make plans, and how to proceed step by step.
Xie Chenzhou knew that inside his heart there lived a wild beast.
But he did not want to let that beast out and scare Shen Shuyi.
At least, not yet.
After Xie Chenzhou left, Shen Shuyi returned to his dormitory.
The moment he sat down at his desk, his phone vibrated.
He took it out and saw that people in Qiao Wan’s group project chat were talking.
[Little Qiao: @Everyone, Professor Dai is assigning another group project. Are we still in the same group this time?]
Two people responded. One agreed, the other said they had just found an internship and did not want to slow the group down, so they would withdraw for now.
The rest had not replied yet.
Shen Shuyi typed: [No problem.]
Group work had to be done regardless. Whether he had an internship or was getting married made no difference.
Perhaps because few people were replying, Qiao Wan tagged him directly: [@Shushu, have you returned to the dormitory? Has that relative of yours left?]
Shen Shuyi: [Yes.]
Qiao Wan did not continue the topic, but soon someone quoted her message.
[Lin Lujianshen: @Little Qiao, what relative? Did a relative come to visit Shuyi at school today?]
[Little Qiao: Ask Shuyi yourself.]
Lin Shen did not reply. Instead, Shen Shuyi saw it and answered: [@Lin Lujianshen, yes.]
Lin Shen still did not respond, until about half an hour later when Shen Shuyi received a private message.
[Lin Shen: I asked a friend of mine just now. He said he saw you and that relative at the sports field this evening. Your relative is an Alpha?]
Shen Shuyi frowned.
He disliked such intrusive questions. His private affairs did not need to be reported to anyone.
[Lin Shen: To be honest, my friend is also an Alpha. He happened to come to school to see me today and was playing basketball with some of my friends on the sports field. He said he sensed that your relative’s pheromones were leaking severely, almost completely surrounding you. Do you know what that means?]
Shen Shuyi did not reply.
[Lin Shen: High-level Alphas are very dangerous. They can easily lose control of their pheromones. Although they can control themselves better than low-level Alphas, it also means that once they lose control, everyone around them is in danger, including Betas.]
If an Alpha wanted to mark someone or act inappropriately toward them, most people, including other Alphas of the same level, would have difficulty resisting. One reason was that Alphas were physically strong. The other was that they were easily controlled by their pheromones. When they lost control or entered their rut period, they could easily become animals that thought only with the lower half of their body.
Shen Shuyi certainly understood this logic, but it was not a valid reason for Lin Shen to slander Xie Chenzhou.
He and Lin Shen were only ordinary classmates.
Shen Shuyi: [Do you have any proof?]
[Lin Shen: …What?]
Shen Shuyi typed a long reply: [Do you have any proof that he is dangerous? I think I probably know him better than you and your friend do. No matter who came to see me today, whether Alpha, Beta, or Omega, what does that have to do with you?]
Perhaps because his tone was too blunt, Lin Shen’s reply sounded flustered: [Sorry, I was just worried about you. You said he is your relative, but my friend said you do not look like relatives. After all… no Alpha would deliberately let their pheromones linger around a relative. This is more like a kind of…]
This message came in two parts. The last sentence was quickly withdrawn, as if he realized he had gone too far and would only make Shen Shuyi angrier.
More like courtship.
Shen Shuyi completed the unspoken words in his head.
But he insisted that Xie Chenzhou would never have such intentions.
At least, not toward him.
Otherwise, what would Xie Chenzhou be after?
That he was an ordinary, boring Beta?
Perhaps Lin Shen was making things up.
Or perhaps he had been misled by his friend.
After all, Xie Chenzhou was a high-level Alpha. It was perfectly normal for Alphas to repel each other. Maybe that Alpha on the sports field had sensed Xie Chenzhou’s pheromones and reacted badly, leading to resentment.
It was also possible that the pheromone rejection had caused that Alpha to experience an unrecognized mental lapse and a brief hallucination.
All of these had scientific explanations. Since Lin Shen could speculate maliciously about others, Shen Shuyi could do the same.
The main point was that he did not believe Xie Chenzhou would do anything to him.
He did not seem like the kind of Alpha Lin Shen described.
Shen Shuyi trusted his instincts.
Besides, a certain amount of pheromone leakage was normal for both Alphas and Omegas. To completely prevent it was impossible unless the glands were removed.
Lin Shen had overstepped.
Although Shen Shuyi was mild-tempered, that did not mean he could tolerate others intruding on his private life.
He decided to keep his distance from Lin Shen in the future.
The next day, Qiao Wan came to find him during a large lecture. She deliberately sat next to him.
There was still some time before class started. While taking out her notebook, she asked, “Did you have a fight with Lin Shen last night?”
Shen Shuyi replied flatly, “Not exactly.”
Qiao Wan had actually come at Lin Shen’s request. She could not help it, since he had treated her to many meals. It was hard to refuse after accepting favors.
So she tried to speak on his behalf. “He did not mean it. Your Alpha relative…”
Shen Shuyi sighed and decided not to hide it anymore. “That is not my relative. He is actually my fiancé.”
“What?!” Qiao Wan froze.
“No wonder…” she muttered. “No wonder! That explains it… Sorry, I should not have meddled. But… can I tell Lin Shen? Are you… getting married soon?”
“Probably soon. My family arranged it and said to do it as soon as possible. You can tell him.”
It was not something he could hide for long in school anyway.
Few Betas got married while still in university. Omegas, on the other hand, did so more often. Because it was rare, Shen Shuyi guessed that once he held the wedding, the entire school would know.
There had been a student like that before. As soon as they got their marriage certificate, the news had spread throughout the campus.
The school did not discriminate against students who married early, as long as it did not affect their studies or involve illegal activities.
“I understand.”
As soon as Qiao Wan said this, the bell rang and they stopped talking.
The past few days had been busy with coursework and preparations for internships, so Shen Shuyi had almost forgotten he had a wedding to prepare for.
It was only when Xie Chenzhou sent him a wedding schedule PPT via Little Green Bubble that he remembered he had not shared his own ideas with him.
To be precise, he had not even had time to think about it.
Everything had happened so suddenly, and marriage was neither his idea nor his choice. It was hard for him to be enthusiastic.
But since Xie Chenzhou had sent the PPT, it meant he had at least made some effort. Shen Shuyi could not simply ignore it, so he opened it carefully and went through it.
Shen Shuyi: [Everything is fine. The venue decoration is stunning, and the PPT is beautifully made.]
Xie Chenzhou looked silently at his phone screen.
“President Xie…” Zhao Jian asked nervously. “The venue design was done according to your instructions by the designer. Is Mr. Shen dissatisfied?”
“You did a good job on the PPT,” Xie Chenzhou said.
He tossed his phone aside.
“…” Zhao Jian was speechless.
On the surface, the words were praise, but judging from his tone… it did not sound like praise at all.
Was he truly complimenting the PPT or implying something else?
President Xie was normally a man of few words and never spoke sarcastically to his subordinates. Although his presence was intimidating, his style had always been direct and businesslike.
So…
“Thank you for the compliment, President Xie?” Zhao Jian asked uncertainly.
Xie Chenzhou’s expression was unreadable. “Mm.”
Just “mm”?
That was it?
Zhao Jian left the office feeling uneasy, expecting reprimand or punishment like a sword hanging over his head, but nothing came.
President Xie’s thoughts were impossible to guess TT.
What he did not know was that Xie Chenzhou had indeed been complimenting him. It was just that seeing Shen Shuyi praise Zhao Jian had made him feel distinctly unhappy.
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Translator note: 📌
Thank you for reading 💖 see you again in the next chapter, my lovely cherries 😘
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