🍒Chapter 35: This Is What Xie Chen Zhou Has Always Been Doing…

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News that Xie Chen Zhou had taken a week of susceptibility leave, and that Shen Shu Yi had spent the week at the Xie residence with him, quickly reached the Shen household.

Father Shen and the stepmother both learned of it.

From the way Xie Chen Zhou had treated Shen Shu Yi from the very beginning, it was not hard to see that at some point he had developed feelings for this seemingly insignificant Beta child of theirs.

Yet Ye Mingxi had not completely given up during this time. She still hoped that before Shen Xingyao reached adulthood, the two might divorce for some reason, and that way Xingyao might still have a chance. After all, Shu Yi was just a Beta. He couldn’t be marked, and if they separated, it would simply be separation.

But judging by the situation now, the feelings between them seemed even deeper than before the marriage. Xingyao’s chances were gone.

An Omega’s marriage was best settled early, not late. Since there was no chance with Xie Chen Zhou, Ye Mingxi had to give up quickly and look for another suitable husband for Shen Xingyao. But she also worried that outsiders would accuse her of favoritism, since after all, Shen Shu Han was not young either.

When she thought about it, among the five children of the Shen family, only Shen Shu Yi had resolved his marriage so early. Ye Mingxi felt more and more that as a stepmother she had failed miserably. After a while, her restless thoughts began to stir again.

Trying to stuff her own people into the lives of the Shen children who weren’t her blood had proven impossible. In that case, why not act more generously, and simply try to match one of them properly?

If there was anyone in the Shen family she needed to curry favor with besides Father Shen, it would certainly be Shen Jinsheng, the eldest. His ability was already evident. Within Father Shen’s company, he could stand alone. Very likely, when Father Shen retired, the shares of the company would be handed over to him. In terms of both reason and sentiment, Ye Mingxi had to treat him well.

Meanwhile, Shen Shu Han’s new drama had wrapped up. Photos from the wrap party were already circulating online.

In the past, Shen Shu Yi had not cared much about such things. But after all that had happened with Xie Chen Zhou recently, Shu Han had been consistently concerned about him. Shu Yi felt guilty, especially since he had hidden some matters from his brother, and worried that it might affect Shu Han’s work.

So, during this time, aside from his studies and job, Shu Yi had secretly begun following Shu Han’s studio account, and realized that Shu Han had far more fans than he had imagined.

Shu Han also seemed to truly enjoy his work. He had his own social account where he often posted pictures of his work and life. His fans eagerly waited for updates every day, and sometimes Shu Han even replied to their comments.

Tracing from the studio’s account, Shu Yi found Shu Han’s personal one. He saw that when Shu Han had returned to H City during a filming break to check on him, he had even taken a photo in the hotel café: two drinks, one black Americano for himself, and one cola latte for Shu Yi, with the caption: “My troublesome little brother.”

Shu Yi hadn’t even realized when the photo was taken. He secretly gave it a like and scrolled further.

In the comments, fans were lively:

【Han Han has a younger brother?】

【Yes, he has two.】

【Which one is this “troublesome” one?】

【Definitely the biological one. I heard the other is from the stepmother.】

【Han Han’s family relationships sound complicated.】

【Isn’t Han Han at marriageable age now? I heard his younger brother got married already.】

【Han Han’s family background is really good. You guys know the Shen family in H City, right?】

【Found it—Shen family and the Xie Cheng Group’s heir are married. Wait, Xie Cheng? Their heir is an Alpha, and Han Han’s brother is a Beta?!】

【???】

【So what if he’s Beta? So what if he’s Alpha? Are you saying Betas can’t marry Alphas?!】

【Why hasn’t Han Han married yet? Did the younger brother marry in his place?】

【Don’t spread rumors. Please focus on artist Shen Shu Han’s work and keep away from his private life!】

【Why does this comment section sound like an ancient arranged-marriage meeting? Han Han committed some crime so he must marry? He’s said clearly he loves his career. Unless he meets someone truly suitable, he won’t marry. And anyway, who said Omegas must marry?】

The comments were a complete mess.

Shu Yi felt complicated as he read. He wanted to say something for Shu Han, but when he refreshed, he saw that Shu Han himself had pinned a new reply:

【I am Shen Shu Han. I am single and have no plans to marry. I am an Omega, but the value of an Omega can be shown in many ways, not just through marriage. Please support my new drama and check the latest stills from the studio!】

It was freshly posted.

When Shu Yi refreshed again, the pinned post already had many replies:

【Ahhh Han Han!】

【The new stills are beautiful! Congratulations on wrapping!】

【Han Han will keep producing more works, envy those fans!】

【Exactly, why must Omegas marry? Han Han is amazing, he spoke my heart!】

There was even one jarring comment: 【If an Omega never marries, how will they survive heat cycles?】 But it quickly disappeared, likely deleted.

Shu Yi knew his brother must be surfing the internet at high speed now.

It was nearly midnight. Shu Han was always most awake at this hour.

Back then, Shu Yi had not been particularly close to his third brother. Though content with his own lot, deep down he always felt the family did not like him much. Even Shu Han was the same.

As children, whenever there was something tasty, Shu Han would never share. He always said: “Why should I give it to you just because you’re my younger brother?”

Yet every time Shu Yi remembered being lost at age three, and how Shu Han had cried miserably when he was found this beautiful Omega with a face full of snot and tears, he couldn’t help but feel that his brother had been good to him after all.

Perhaps people were simply complex. Shu Han had his own ideas. He always fought for himself, unlike Shu Yi who was ordinary and unremarkable in every way, never able to match his brother.

But Shu Yi did not feel jealousy. On the contrary, through that pinned post, he realized his brother had always shown his truest self to him, and that had never changed.

He opened his messenger and quietly sent Shu Han a note: 【Ge, when are you coming back?】

The reply came fast: 【Why are you still awake this late?】

Shu Yi: 【You know the off-road rally in Chongwan this year is sponsored by the Shen Group, right? They say it was big brother’s idea. There’s a racer he likes, and Aunt Ye wants to play matchmaker, so she got lots of tickets. She even wants Mr. Xie and me to go watch. You know the resort nearby? I think it belongs to the Xie Group too.】

Shu Han: 【I know. I don’t know what that woman is scheming again. Annoying. Are you going?】

Shu Yi: 【Mr. Xie’s condition hasn’t been great lately. I want him to relax a bit, but I can’t think of any good way.】

Shu Han: 【If you want to go with him, then just go. Treat it as a little trip. The race is only two days, isn’t it?】

Shu Yi: 【Actually I was wondering if you’d go. Has your heat cycle become more frequent lately? I learned a new method to ease it…】

Before he could finish typing, Shu Han’s reply jumped out quickly: 【What use are your methods? I’m fine. I take suppressants regularly. Nothing’s wrong. You’d better mind yourself!】

Shu Yi stared at the screen, unable to type anything more.

Ah… he still wasn’t good at this. He couldn’t help anyone but himself. In truth, he couldn’t even handle his own matters well.

He decided he had better think of what to do about Mr. Xie first.

After his heat period, Shu Yi moved back into his original bedroom. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to sleep with Xie Chenzhou, but Xie Chenzhou’s condition was poor, and Shu Yi often reacted to his pheromones. Too close, and something might happen.

Before, when Shu Yi didn’t have glands, it was fine. But now, with his glands developed, he suspected that his own colorless, odorless pheromones could actually match Chen Zhou’s highly.

He wasn’t sure if it was due to Xie Chenzhou’s influence, or if they were simply compatible to begin with.

Recently, Shu Yi had dug through every piece of information he could find about Enigmas. He even went to Lin Shen to ask for sources, and consulted Professor Dai with many questions.

Professor Dai valued Shu Yi highly. Among this year’s students, he considered Shu Yi one of the most diligent. Though his aptitude was average, most Beta students were ordinary. What made Shu Yi rare was his perseverance, good character, and initiative. Dai was happy to nurture him and answered all his questions.

Shu Yi learned much, and came to understand that “restraint” was the lifelong challenge for Enigmas.

As social beings, if one wished to live in society, one must adapt. Even Enigmas were no exception.

And this was exactly what Xie Chenzhou had always been doing. Whether before he met Shu Yi, or after, he had always been restraining himself.

This was the part Shu Yi admired. No matter how or why Xie Chenzhou had learned to restrain his nature, the path he chose was the right one.

What Shu Yi wanted now was to help him keep restraining, until he could find a better solution.

So he moved back into his own room.

He also knew that the surveillance in his bedroom still worked even with the plug pulled, and why Xie Chenzhou had installed so many cameras in the house. He could even guess why Xie Chenzhou often stayed late in the basement.

Knowing all this, Shu Yi chose to respect him. He ignored the cameras that followed him constantly, and pretended not to notice when he discovered Xie Chenzhou had secretly printed extra copies of his horseback photo.

He reopened his old ins account that he had not touched in two years and almost forgot the password to. He checked the “recent visitors” box every day, where a familiar system-default avatar appeared.

That visitor had come almost every day, with over five thousand historical visits. What did that mean?

Back in first year of high school, overwhelmed by study stress, Shu Yi had joined classmates in opening that account. It was popular then to post daily life photos. Shu Yi had often vented about study woes, sometimes about family, sometimes chatting with classmates. Looking back now, it was all black history.

But that visitor had come so often that Shu Yi thought it was a bot boosting his views. Only now did he realise, it had been Xie Chenzhou watching him all along, from that early on.

Every day, at least twice.

Xie Chenzhou really liked him.

The discovery even made Shu Yi a little happy.

Piece by piece, all these traces had surfaced in the days since he decided to help Xie Chenzhou. Perhaps there were more. But Shu Yi did not find him abnormal. Instead, he only wanted to know more: since when had Xie Chenzhou started noticing him?

He couldn’t ask now. His plan had already shifted and grown more detailed as he came to understand Xie Chenzhou more. Every step he took now was cautious, carefully considered.

Because he had read too many cases of Enigmas falling into madness due to obsession.

He thought of Xie Chenzhou’s words, how his father had treated him like a monster and abandoned him. Since his gender was Enigma, and his father had publicly been Alpha, it meant only Xie Chenzhou’s mother could have been Enigma. Only with those genes could such a child be born.

His mother was gone. Xie Chenzhou never spoke of her. That suggested she had brought harm to the family, even to Xie Chenzhou himself. Her death must have been tied to her gender.

Shu Yi could not let Xie Chenzhou repeat that fate.

He thought of Uncle Qian, The butler whom Xie Chen Zhou had initially forbidden Shen Shuyi from getting too close to.

Perhaps, from him, Shu Yi could gain some unexpected help.

So he decided to talk to Uncle Qian first.

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*Translator: thank you for reading 💋