CH 21

Shen Dai signed the house purchase contract. He then completed the bank loan application and transfer procedures accompanied by the intermediary.

The moment he got the key, Shen Dai felt like a heavy stone was lifted from the bottom of his heart. It gave him a sense of fulfilment and stability. He had carefully chosen a lower monthly payment plan. His job in the research institute is said to be very stable. Even if he loses his job one day, he can still find another with his achievements and experiences listed in his resume. All that will be left to deal with are his grandmother’s medical expenses and their living expenses. At present, this kind of financial distribution is the most reasonable and he can now save some money for emergencies.

He had planned in his mind on how to make simple decorations for the new house, what other things to buy, and how long it would take until he is able to move in. It is best to be able to move into a new home when his grandmother is discharged from the hospital after the operation. Once all the bad karma in his life is cut out, the future seems to be full of vitality with the existence of a new home.

His grandmother will be very happy.

Shen Dai was lost in a reverie. He was looking for ideas on simple clothes online. At the same time, he was looking at furniture, household appliances and daily necessities as well. It was not until Cheng Zimei had asked him to go to eat lunch that he realised he had not done any real work all morning.

“Let’s go to the cafeteria today. Oh, that knife-cut noodle is so delicious. I’ve been thinking about it if I don’t get to eat it for a few days.”

“Okay.” Shen Dai is in a very good mood, “Zimei, I have good news to tell you.”

“What good news?”

“My grandma’s surgery is finally scheduled. The chief surgeon is a specialist. It will be done by next month.”

Cheng Zimei cheered happily: “Wow, that’s great! The operation will definitely be a success. I will then visit the hospital to see your grandma.”

“No need to visit the hospital. You can visit her at home. We’ll move to a new house soon.”

“Where are you moving to?”

Shen Dai didn’t tell Cheng Zimei that he bought a house. He only told her that he had re-rented a better house closer to his workplace so that he could take better care of his grandmother.

The two chatted all the way to the cafeteria.

While queuing to get lunch, Shen Dai somehow feels that some people are peeking a look at him. They are also whispering something to each other.

He thinks that maybe he is being too sensitive, but Cheng Zimei also quickly realises that something is off: “Are those people looking at us?”

“I don’t know.”

They look at each other and find nothing out of the ordinary on any of them. But Shen Dai is afraid if it is because he was too careless. Those people’s ‘eyes’ on them had become more and more bold and rude.

“Let’s just pack up and eat at the office.”

“Why do we have to?” Cheng Zimei is also starting to get angry so she speaks loudly, “Just look if you want. I’m so beautiful.”

Some people looked away immediately.

The two find a corner to sit down. They then spread their hands and shake their heads in a daze, feeling confused.

At this moment, Cheng Zimei’s handphone suddenly vibrates. She opens a gossip group that she joined. She suddenly gasps loudly as she sees something shocking. She holds her handphone in front of Shen Dai. The movement was so large that she almost slapped Shen Dai’s face: “This! It’s you.”

It was a surveillance low-resolution GIF image. Qu Moyu strode past holding a man in his arms wrapped in a windbreaker, confirming some rumours about Shen Dai some time ago.

Shen Dai stared stiffly at the repeated image.

Suddenly, he feels his foot is in pain. Cheng Zimei had kicked him.

“You lied to me!” Cheng Zimei accused angrily. “What’s the relationship between the two of you? You’re actually hiding it from me! Shen Dai, you are so fucking stupid.”

Shen Dai presses her shoulders to calm her down as he covers her mouth to ensure she no longer speaks loudly: “Don’t make trouble, auntie, please, I apologise, I’m sorry.”

Cheng Zimei’s eyes are full of anger but at the same time, there is a flash of excitement.

Shen Dai sighed, “Let’s pack it up.”

Cheng Zimei wraps her arms around her chest. Her face looks stern as she listens to Shen Dai’s ‘honest explanation’. But she is still not satisfied after listening: “That’s it? You almost fainted because of the alpha pheromone. And the prince took you to the hospital?”

“Hmm.” Shen Dai didn’t want to lie to his best friend, but so many things have happened between him and Qu Moyu. As time goes on, there will be more things to hide. Cheng Zimei might not reveal the sensational truth. Cheng Zimei is just this kind of character. She has a cheerful personality. She may not look like a big deal, but no ordinary person can enter the Rare Earth Research Institute. But he had signed a non-disclosure agreement. So, Qu Moyu’s privacy must be kept hidden.

“You didn’t tell me the truth.” Cheng Zimei glared at him. “I’ll sort out the current gossip trend for you.”

“No need……”

“I don’t know how this surveillance got leaked out. But it’s probably not because of you. It must be because of Yan Mingxiu. If Yan Mingxiu was photographed leaving with you in his arms, it would be more wonderful. After all, he just got married, and he married a new actor. This gossip will be sensational. But for our company…” Cheng Zimei suddenly became excited, “This is the crown prince! Tell me what it feels like to be hugged by the crown prince and become a princess!”

Shen Dai only looks at her helplessly.

He believes that this leak of internal monitoring must be related to Yan Mingxiu. But unfortunately, they do not find any gossip that they could make a fuss with about him.

Yan Mingxiu’s wife, Zhou Xiang, is one of the actors with the best momentum in recent years. He is a beta. No one is optimistic about a marriage between an S-class alpha with a beta. A beta has no pheromone awareness and cannot be marked. So why? Taking advantage of Zhou Xiang’s popularity, many paparazzi are staring at them for more sensational gossip.

For Shen Dai, this was like a disaster. He recalled his short-lived impression of Yan Mingxiu. Apart from his stunning appearance, what he remembered most clearly was Yan Mingxiu’s decisiveness when he rejected him. At that time, Yan Mingxiu misunderstood what he meant by ‘help me’. He might be thinking that he wanted a temporary mark.

When an omega is in heat, the alpha’s temporary marker can appease him and avoid further serious consequences. Although sometimes it will only act as a last resort in an emergency, it is still a very delicate issue for married people. At least, no one is willing to have their own alpha marking others, even temporarily.

He always has a hunch that the ‘materials’ that the paparazzi would want will never come true.

“My God!” Cheng Zimei slapped the table suddenly, startling Shen Dai. She immediately shrugs her shoulders, looks around to make sure that no one is listening and whispers to Shen Dai, “What kind of fate do you have? Think about it, back then, when you had an accident in the laboratory, he rescued you. And this time, he helped you again. This is just like TV dramas. The idol dramas of domineering presidents are mostly with this plot.”

“Watch less drama. Don’t you have enough work?”

“Don’t interrupt me. After that, he took you to the hospital? What did the two of you say and do? Wait, shouldn’t he be using his car? Holy shit! After going to the hospital, did he say a few words to you, express his concern or something like that? Is there no more contact after that?” Cheng Zimei asked a bunch of questions like machine guns being fired. The whole person is obviously very excited.

“No, I was so uncomfortable at the time that I almost vomited in his car. Later, it was his driver who took me to the hospital. I can’t remember most of them. We didn’t say anything to each other anyway. He helped me because I am his employee. .”

“I don’t believe it. You must have caught his attention.” Cheng Zimei pondered; “By the way, when you were giving a speech, he argued with Qu Chengchen to defend you. How obvious.”

“He was defending his project.”

“Why are you so stupid?” Cheng Zimei glared at him with hatred. “Didn’t you always like the crown prince? He is such a perfect S-class alpha, who once saved you. Then, you have a chance now. He is so good-looking, smart, and has a good personality. You should try to get close to him.”

Shen Dai covered his face with one hand: “Can you be more realistic?”

“It’s possible, you know? Love is blind after all!”

Shen Dai shakes his head dismissively: “Don’t say anything anymore. Let’s get our work done or this day will be wasted.”

“Wait…” Cheng Zimei swiped her phone, “Wow, it was posted on Weibo. Although the prince never uses social media, many people still know him. Do you know about ‘Alpha Predator Club’?”

“What is that?”

“It’s just a club of stalking netizens. They made a list of the S-class alphas of marriageable age that can be found in China. From all walks of life. From politics, business, academia, literature, art, sports, and such. There are many of them. Well, as soon as there is any gossip about an S-class alpha, they will share it here. The most discussed one today is definitely about you and him.”

“Okay, okay. I beg you.” Shen Dai presses her hand down from holding up her phone. “I’m depressed enough. Let this slide already.”

Seeing that he is really irritable, Cheng Zimei says angrily; “Unfortunately, if it were another omega, they would have rushed forward. They wanted to seduce the crown prince, and he had expelled them three times in a row. You have such a good chance… But yeah, you don’t have that ability.”

Shen Dai echoed in his heart; I really don’t have that ability.

When he takes the subway at night, Shen Dai opens Weibo to see. He endures himself from doing so all afternoon. Finally, he can’t help but want to check the reviews. However, he finds that the news has died out. Although there are still people discussing topics related to it, there are obviously many popular Weibo posts that have been deleted. Xingzhou’s public relations ability is evidently good.

When he returns to Qu’s house, it is just time for dinner. It is rare for Qu Moyu to not go out these days. He came back early. As soon as he enters the door, he notices that the Qu Moyu has changed into his home clothes and is ready to eat.

Seeing Shen Dai, Qu Moyu appears to look as usual: “You’re back. Come and eat dinner.”

Shen Dai’s eyes flicker a little. He doesn’t know what Qu Moyu is thinking about the gossip. After all, it happened because of him. Qu Moyu is the kind of person who would be very disgusted by people paying too much attention to him inside the company. It is probably because he was afraid of trouble, but now he has already become the object of discussion.

Shen Dai greets him and sits down quietly beside him, trying to reduce his presence as much as possible.

“You all go out.” Qu Moyu ordered.

Uncle Heng and the others tacitly disappeared in a blink of an eye. Only the two of them were left in the huge restaurant.

Shen Dai sighs quietly: “I…”

“Did it affect you?”

“Uh, no. I’m fine.”

“What did you say to the others?”

“That I just bumped into you when you went to the toilet. And that it was actually Lao Wu who took me to the hospital.”

Qu Moyu nods and glances at Shen Dai lightly: “I found that you are quite a trouble. But I don’t blame you.”

Shen Dai’s body froze for a moment: “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” Qu Moyu said, “The person who leaked the surveillance video has also been found and has been dealt with.”

“That’s good to know.”

“In the future, you need to be more careful. Although the accident three years ago has been suppressed as much as possible, and everyone who saw it has signed a non-disclosure agreement, there is no airtight wall in this world. You should pay more attention, such as to your friends and so on. Okay?” Qu Moyu shook the glass in his hand and took a sip, “I don’t like to be involved in anything other than work at the company, especially my personal life.”

Shen Dai once again feels the invisible sense of oppression, and he whispers, “Okay.”

“Let’s eat dinner.”

Shen Dai picks up the chopsticks and looks at the table full of delicious food but he has no appetite.

“Are you not hungry?” Qu Moyu pinched Shen Dai’s chin with a half-smile displayed on his face, “Would you like to have an appetiser?”

Shen Dai looks at Qu Moyu confusedly.

Qu Moyu’s eyes move down, gesturing at his crotch, and then he spreads his legs open.

After Shen Dai understood what he meant, his mind went black for a moment. And then his face burned up to the base of his ears.

“Hmm?” Qu Moyu slightly increased the strength of his fingers, causing Shen Dai’s jaw to hurt, but his expression still seemed peaceful.

Shen Dai took a deep breath, his heart was beating like a drum. He wanted to get up and leave, but he didn’t dare to. No matter whether it is due to social status or physical level, he never dared to disobey any word of Qu Moyu. His order is absolute. With such power he held, it’s not worth refusing anything in his face. Also not to mention, he knows that Qu Moyu is already angry, so this is a tactful punishment for himself. If he is smart, he mustn’t provoke a beast at this time.

Shen Dai endured the humiliation, got under the table, knelt between Qu Moyu’s legs, and pulled down the pants of his silk home clothes with trembling hands…

There were sounds of unspeakable movements in the closed dining hall.

Qu Moyu looks down on Shen Dai. His fair and cold face is distorted, flushed with irritation, and physiological tears fall from the corners of his eyes. It makes those clean and transparent eyes look pitiful. He strokes Shen Dai’s soft hair. The pleasure of conquest trumps over even the pleasure of the body.