Dou Changxiao had been watching the man ahead for quite some time.

Ever since entering the exhibition hall, this person had been walking just ahead of him. After more than ten minutes, Dou Changxiao had made a small loop around the gallery and encountered him again.

The art exhibition drew a large crowd, so bumping into someone repeatedly while wandering around wasn’t unusual. What made Dou Changxiao remember this man, however, was the pair of sunglasses perched on his nose.

—The style was downright flashy.

Every time the sunglasses-wearing man paused to look at a painting, Dou Changxiao felt the glittering diamonds on the frames flash into his eyes.

He rarely saw anyone wear sunglasses to a private art exhibition. Color was a crucial dimension in appreciating paintings, and wearing such glasses felt disrespectful to the artist.

That said, the quality of this private exhibition was admittedly mediocre.

Dou Changxiao stood with his hands in his pockets, shifting his gaze away from the sunglasses to briefly glance at an oil painting displayed before him.

This private exhibition he attended was hosted by a prominent, wealthy businessman in Yuncheng for his eldest son, who had just returned from overseas. Its nature was roughly equivalent to parents displaying their preschooler’s award certificates on the wall for others to admire.

Essentially, it was a rich kid’s self-indulgent game of make-believe.

Had he not been invited, Dou Changxiao would never have wasted his time on such childish play.

Just as his impatience was mounting, a voice called out from behind him: “Boss Ning?”

A man wearing an ID badge brushed past Dou Changxiao. His attire suggested he was the gallery’s purchasing manager.

The manager walked straight up to the “sunglasses guy,” his face plastered with an eager smile. “I never imagined you’d come in person!”

The young man in sunglasses, addressed as Boss Ning, smiled broadly and replied, “Of course, I had to see the great artist Ren’s solo exhibition in person. Besides, my assistant is such a bumpkin! He knows nothing about art. I wouldn’t trust him to buy paintings.”

Upon hearing the words “purchase paintings,” the male attendant inquired, “Have you found any works that catch your eye?”

Sensing the young man’s intent to buy, the attendant immediately transformed into a salesperson, launching into a detailed introduction of a nearby painting. He expounded on its stylistic school and creative inspiration, painting an extravagant picture.

Dou Changxiao had already started to leave, but upon hearing this, he casually glanced over.

His grandfather had achieved great success in traditional Chinese painting and also possessed considerable insight into oil painting. Though Dou Changxiao himself had no interest in painting, he had been influenced by the old man since childhood and had developed a fairly professional eye for aesthetics.

He surveyed the painting of the nude youth from top to bottom, silently giving it a rather unflattering internal assessment.

Boss Ning raised his hands and patted his chest twice in approval: “Brilliant talent.”

Dou Changxiao: “…”

The male manager smiled and quoted a killer price: “Ninety-eight thousand.”

Dou Changxiao started to walk away.

Whoever buys this is a sucker.

But then he heard a soft ‘Ah’ from behind him, and Boss Ning said, “This is a steal!”

“…………”

Dou Changxiao’s footsteps faltered. Unable to resist, he turned to see the face of this sucker.

At that moment, the other man turned his profile. Fragments of diamonds on his sunglasses sparkled in the light, revealing his side profile to Dou Changxiao.

The lower half of the young man’s face, unobscured by the sunglasses, was unexpectedly striking. His features were perfectly proportioned—high cheekbones, a well-defined nose bridge, and smooth jawlines without an ounce of excess flesh, giving him an exquisitely delicate bone structure.

Unaware of Dou Changxiao’s scrutiny, he stared at the painting—a ‘brilliant talent, high-quality, and affordable’—for two seconds. A habitual smile curved his lips as he told the male manager, “Go ahead and reserve it for me.”

“Certainly, Boss Ning. Shall I take you to register your information?”

In this circle, the relationship between supply and demand was always one of a willing buyer, willing seller. Dou Changxiao watched impassively as the sucker was led away by the male attendant to complete the purchase.

He paid little attention to this interlude, lingering in the exhibition hall for a while longer, intending to stay for half an hour before leaving.

His phone in his pocket vibrated twice—an incoming call.

Dou Changxiao was currently studying at medical school. With heavy daytime coursework, he habitually kept his phone on vibrate. The showroom was quiet, making it inconvenient to answer aloud, and there was no suitable place to take the call. He slipped into the restroom with his phone.

The sink area was shared, separated from the main exhibition space by a long corridor. It was quite quiet, so he didn’t venture into the stalls. Instead, he answered the call right at the sink.

It was his older brother calling.

Dou Changxiao replied coldly, “I’ve done my part to support the event. Your company’s name is on the exhibitor list. Handle the rest of the painting purchase process yourself—find someone to come over. I’m not that idle.”

Something was said on the other end.

Dou Changxiao: “Not great. You…”

Mid-sentence, someone approached the counter to Dou Changxiao’s left. With a soft thud, they placed an object on the porcelain surface before reaching for the faucet.

The object on the counter glinted. Dou Changxiao glanced down, his eyes momentarily dazzled by a pair of diamond-encrusted sunglasses.

“…”

He’d run into that sucker again.

His voice paused for a second before he could gather his thoughts to respond.

The mirrored surface of the left counter caught his peripheral vision. Though Dou Changxiao hadn’t intended to scrutinize, his gaze drifted passively to the collar around the man’s neck—fastened loosely, its front dangling faintly over the collarbone.

An Omega, too.

Back in the exhibition hall, since the man had mostly kept his back to Dou Changxiao, the collar obscured by his shirt, and his tone had been rather off-kilter, Dou Changxiao had assumed he was some shallow Alpha with money to burn.

After washing his hands, the man scooped up a handful of water. Whether from overindulgence or something else, he swayed slightly as he bent to splash water on his face, as if losing his balance.

Dou Changxiao paid it no mind, continuing his phone conversation: “I’ll leave immediately. I have an exam later…”

Before he could finish, he felt a sudden, forceful tug on his arm.

Glancing down, he saw the Omega’s hand clenched tightly around his left sleeve.

The undried hand left a wet, squishy imprint on Dou Changxiao’s sleeve.

Dou Changxiao lowered his eyes in silence for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was colder: “The paper towels are right in front of you.”

The Omega seemed oblivious to reason. Not only did he refuse to let go, but he tightened his grip, leaning his entire weight onto Dou Changxiao.

“…Handsome…” The clueless Omega mumbled something, but the words after “handsome” were too faint, sounding like indistinct mumbling.

…Sexual harassment?

Dou Changxiao pushed the other away and tried to free his arm.

But the moment he moved, the other pressed closer, even nuzzling his head against Dou Changxiao’s chest.

Dou Changxiao had never experienced anything like this before. His reaction was a split second too slow, and he couldn’t act immediately.

From a distance, their posture appeared extremely intimate.

But in a public setting, it looked decidedly inappropriate.

A passerby heading to the restroom caught sight of the entangled pair. One Beta rolled his eyes in disgust: “Damn, can you AO’s at least pick a place? Do you really get horny anytime, anywhere?”

An Alpha caught in the crossfire stopped in his tracks. Instead of confronting the Beta, he turned his displeasure toward Dou Changxiao: “It’s scum like you who ruin our Alpha reputation! The hotel is right across from the exhibition hall. Can’t you afford a room? If you can’t pay for a room, then don’t fucking date!”

Alpha scum Dou Changxiao: “…”

The voice on the phone kept pouring fuel on the fire: “What’s all that yelling on your end? All this talk about heat cycles and hotel rooms… You weren’t messing around in the exhibition hall, were you?”

Dou Changxiao hung up immediately, ignoring the two chattering bystanders. He tucked his phone away, freeing his right hand to grab the Omega by the collar. His tone was icy as he warned, “Sir, please behave yourself.”

The Omega hung his head, one hand reaching out in the air as if grasping at thin air before dropping limply. Moments later, it rose again, this time clutching Dou Changxiao’s collar.

Dou Changxiao wrenched the hand away, his voice icy: “Or I’ll call the police.”

The other remained unmoved. Dou Changxiao simply hoisted him up and flung him away with a casual toss, sending the sexual harasser flying.

The Omega staggered twice after being thrown.

Dou Changxiao frowned and turned to walk out.

After taking just two steps, a thunderous “CRASH!” erupted behind him!

He spun around to find the Omega’s head smashed squarely into the sink, motionless and completely unconscious.

Dou Changxiao: “……………”

━━━━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━━━━

Ning Zhu awoke from unconsciousness as evening fell.

His eyes opened to the stark white ceiling of a hospital ward, leaving him momentarily disoriented.

The glands at the base of his neck throbbed painfully. He shifted his head slightly, and an excruciating, needle-like sting instantly radiated from the back of his neck, blanking his mind for several seconds.

He endured it for a moment before regaining his bearings. He heard two voices chattering nearby—both familiar to Ning Zhu. One belonged to his assistant, Xiao Tao, and the other to his longtime friend, Wei Tingfeng.

Xiao Tao stammered, “…This isn’t the first time this has happened to Mr. Ning. Yesterday, during a high-level meeting at the company, right in the middle of the presentation, he was standing in front of the projector screen speaking when he suddenly collapsed.”

“Yesterday?” Wei Tingfeng’s voice carried a hint of displeasure. “Why wasn’t he sent to the hospital then?”

Xiao Tao explained, “We were going to call an ambulance… but several executives were so alarmed. One of the calmer ones helped him up, and just as they did, Mr. Ning regained consciousness. Everyone relaxed seeing him awake and forgot to call the ambulance. They all assumed it was just overwork.”

Boss Ji specifically told President Ning to take two days off and come to the hospital for a checkup. I originally planned to accompany him today, but he insisted on going to see some art exhibition first.“ Xiao Tao finished his explanation with a pained expression. ”Dr. Wei, what exactly is President Ning’s condition now? Is it really just exhaustion? Sigh, Mr. Ning usually wakes up before the roosters crow and sleeps later than the dogs. I’ve been telling him to rest, to not overwork himself.“

Wei Tingfeng’s expression darkened. If it were just overwork, it would be so much simpler.

”Ahem…”

Ning Zhuo coughed twice. The two men stopped talking simultaneously.

Xiao Tao hurried over. Seeing his eyes open, he called out “Mr. Ning” in a trembling voice, nearly breaking down in tears.

Wei Tingfeng approached as well, standing by the hospital bed and watching him with pursed lips, saying nothing.

Ning Zhu’s mind hadn’t fully caught up yet. He wiggled his fingers, sensing some strength still in his body. He gently turned his neck. The pain in the back of his neck had become bearable, so he propped himself up and sat upright. Looking around, he asked, “How did I end up in the hospital? What happened?”

Wei Tingfeng: “You fainted in the exhibition hall. Someone called the police and an ambulance. The ambulance brought you here. Don’t you remember?”

“Oh…”

Ning Zhu touched his face, trying to piece things together.

After completing the painting purchase process with that male manager, he’d stopped by the restroom… Everything after that was a blur, leaving only fragmented memories for him to cobble together.

It seemed like he’d gone to wash his hands after using the restroom when he suddenly felt dizzy.

Fortunately, someone at the adjacent stall—a kind soul who seemed to be an Alpha—was nearby.

Ning Zhu’s mind was thick as porridge; he hadn’t caught the Alpha’s face, but he remembered that the person seemed genuinely decent.

In his memory, the Alpha, seeing him struggling to stand, had enthusiastically offered his arm.

…Hadn’t he also said he’d call the police for him?

Ning Zhu set that matter aside for now and turned to Wei Tingfeng: “Aren’t you from the Gland Department? Why are you in the emergency ward?”

Wei Tingfeng replied, “The police used your phone to call Assistant Tao. I was summoned by Assistant Tao.”

Wei Tingfeng was an endocrinologist currently employed at the Third Hospital, where Ning Zhu had been brought by ambulance.

He and Ning Zhu had known each other since middle school. After the high school entrance exams, they lost touch due to attending different schools. Unexpectedly, they both got into the same university, rekindling their old friendship.

“Assistant Tao, please go downstairs to the hospital and buy him some food,” Wei Tingfeng turned to Xiao Tao. “He was unconscious for five hours and needs something to eat.”

“Got it!” Xiao Tao promptly left without delay.

Once everyone had exited, Wei Tingfeng’s expression hardened. He frowned as he pushed a stack of lab results and reports toward Ning Zhu.

Ning Zhu merely glanced casually over the papers, lifting his gaze without scrutinizing them. “Why toss these at me? I can’t make heads or tails of them.”

“I ran a pheromone level test on you. The concentration in your glands is roughly four times that of an average Omega. This value is far above normal,” Wei Tingfeng took a breath. “Your fainting episode this time is undoubtedly linked to your glandular disorder.”

Ning Zhu’s glands suffered from severe congenital defects. Since adolescence, when his glands began maturing, each heat cycle brought varying degrees of complications. He’d tried every potent medication on the market to alleviate symptoms, yet the complications not only persisted but worsened… Years ago, the most critical episode nearly cost him his life.

Since then, Ning Zhu had resorted to using potent suppressants to stifle the onset of his heat cycles.

Given the life-threatening nature of this information, only a handful of people close to Ning Zhu knew about it—Wei Tingfeng being one of them.

Ning Zhu asked, “Four times… is that dangerous?”

“…Of course it is!” Wei Tingfeng stared at him as if he were an idiot, his tone rising with urgency. “Do you have any idea what a fourfold pheromone level means? Your glands are like a ticking time bomb right now. Who knows when they’ll suddenly go haywire and explode!”

Ning Zhu was jolted by the word “explode.” He pictured his own neck bursting open, his eyelashes quivering with dread.

“Explode” was obviously just Wei Tingfeng’s dramatic metaphor. If he hadn’t painted the situation as utterly dire and terrifying, the guy in front of him wouldn’t have taken it seriously at all.

Besides, a pheromone surge was no laughing matter.

“Thankfully, Assistant Tao accidentally called me. I administered the suppressant in time to stabilize your pheromones.”

Wei Tingfeng continued his scare tactics, “Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be sitting here talking to me right now.”

Xiao Tao hadn’t been working long and was still young. After hearing that Ning Zhu had collapsed, he panicked and frantically called Wei Tingfeng. Calling Wei Tingfeng had been a desperate, last-ditch effort, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be the right doctor for the job. Otherwise, if they’d waited for a full series of tests and diagnoses, Ning Zhu would likely have ended up in the ICU.

Ning Zhuo frowned. “I injected the suppressant three weeks ago, right? How much time has really passed?”

An Omega’s heat cycle typically lasts around two months, with each heat lasting one to two days. Under normal circumstances, a standard suppressant patch combined with the barrier effect of the collar was usually sufficient. However, these commercially available suppressants were practically useless for Ning Zhu. Their only function was to prevent his pheromones from leaking out and affecting other Alphas.

“I told you before, using suppressants to manage heat cycles isn’t a long-term solution. Your glands will develop increasing resistance to them. Eventually, the suppressants will lose all effect. You should know what happens then.” Wei Tingfeng pulled up a chair and sat down. “I stand by my advice: consider alternative treatments promptly.”

Ning Zhu raised an eyebrow.

Wei Tingfeng’s phrasing was official, but this “alternative treatment” was anything but conventional.

“You took Omega physiology class. You should know how crucial pheromones are between an Alpha and an Omega. Most gland issues can be alleviated with highly compatible pheromones.”

Translation: He was telling Wei Tingfeng to find a highly compatible Alpha and exchange pheromones with them.

The specifics of pheromone exchange needn’t be elaborated—there are many methods…

Wei Tingfeng looked at him. “For the past two years, I’ve been monitoring the pheromone matching database for you. But hospital resources are limited—the highest matches we’ve found are under 90%. You’ve made quite a fortune these years. Find a way yourself… Use whatever special channels you need. Find a highly compatible Alpha—preferably over 95%. While I can’t guarantee it will cure your glandular disease, it can at least slow its progression.”

Ninety-five percent?

Ning Zhu: “…You treat high-match Alphas like roadside cabbages, just waiting to be picked up.”

Wei Tingfeng remained silent, only offering him a cold smile.

—If you can’t find one, you’re just waiting to die.

Ning Zhu grasped the implication and conceded: “Fine, I’ll look into channels.”

After a moment of silence, the sheer difficulty of the task weighed on him. He tentatively asked, “If I really can’t find one… how much time do I have left?”

Wei Tingfeng: “If you’re lucky, you could be on your way tomorrow.”

Ning Zhu: “…”

Well, I’ll take that as a good omen.