BDBE 68

Chapter 68 Gratitude

After completing the mission, Lin Anyi went to report to Zhou Mingchen. 

Zhou Mingchen chuckled and patted his head: “As expected of you, you’re always reliable when it comes to getting things done, and you even come back to report after you’ve finished.” 

Lin Anyi pushed away his unruly hand and coldly announced: “I came to tell you that I’ve ruined your reputation.” 

Zhou Mingchen paused: “?” 

Lin Anyi pointed at his hand and said: “Be more careful at school in the future. After all, we’re different AOs. If someone sees us, it will cause misunderstandings.” 

After saying that, Lin Anyi turned and left. 

Zhou Mingchen blanky looked at his resolute back. After a long while, he gritted his teeth and said: “This ungrateful unauthorized copyred-eyed rabbit, just say so if you dislike me, but he has to come up with such a high-sounding reason. Tch, I don’t care!” 

Zhou Mingchen returned to his seat angrily, and slammed his book on the table. 

Seeing him acting out again, Shen Wanchao asked helplessly, “Did you have a fight with Xiao Yi?”

“Don’t mention him to me!” 

If Zhou Mingchen had a beard, it’d be flying around in anger right now. “I’ve cut ties with him!” 

Shen Wanchao, completely bewildered, patiently advised, “It’s normal for brothers to bicker and argue. It’ll be fine in a few days. Don’t be too angry.” 

“Who says he’s my brother?” Zhou Mingchen retorted, annoyed. “I treat him like a brother, but he treats me like some kind of Alpha outsider!” 

Feeling something was amiss, Shen Wanchao quickly asked, “What did you do?” 

To his surprise, Zhou Mingchen was unusually perceptive at this moment, and ​visit our site​directly questioned, “Your first reaction is that I did something? I didn’t do anything. You should go ask him what he did.”

Shen Wanchao knew he had made a mistake, so he didn’t want to make things worse. He patted Zhou Mingchen on the back, thinking about how to help the two reconcile. 

After thinking about it all afternoon, Shen Wanchao finally decided to ask the teacher for leave and take the two boys out for a treat during dinner time. 

The school cafeteria food must be too bland and healthy, which caused the boys to be irritable; they needed some unhealthy, heavily flavored street food to combat the irritation. 

With the three of them out together, it would be easier for him to mediate and clear things up. 

When they left the school gate, Zhou Mingchen was still sulking, and refused to say a single word to Lin Anyi. 

Lin Anyi, on the other hand, acted as usual. He clung to Shen Wanchao, seemingly unaware of Zhou Mingchen’s displeasure. 

Shen Wanchao was caught in the middle of two teenage boys. He felt both annoyed and helpless. 

Just as the three crossed the zebra crossing visit our siteat the school gate, a somewhat familiar figure suddenly appeared, and blocked their way. 

“Hey, I’ve been waiting for days, you’re finally here. No wonder this is a place for young masters and ladies to study; they don’t even allow lowly commoners like us to enter.” The man cracked his neck a couple of times. His words were sarcastic and grating. 

Zhou Mingchen immediately recognized him and stepped forward to protect Shen Wanchao and Lin Anyi. 

Dong Dapeng grinned sinisterly: “Hey, hey, hey, is this really necessary? I just wanted to talk to my good brother, and you’re acting like I’m some kind of wanted criminal.” 

Shen Wanchao patted Zhou Mingchen’s shoulder, took a step forward himself, and said coldly: “The protection order is still valid. If we call the police now, you’ll be taken away. So I advise you to be sensible and leave on your own.” 

“Ha. Protection order and calling the police.” Dong Dapeng rolled his eyes. “You rich people always talk so meaninglessly, always threatening others with these soft methods.”

“I told you, I just wanted to say one thing to Lin Anyi. I’ve protected him like a younger brother for so many years, how could he be so heartless as to not even listen to me?” 

Zhou Mingchen’s anger surged, and he took two steps forward: “He’s my brother, who do you think you are, babbling here?” 

Shen Wanchao also said: “We have nothing to say to you, please leave now.” 

Lin Anyi clenched his fists, feeling disgusted, but he couldn’t do anything. 

Dong Dapeng was too lazy to waste words with the others, and simply stretched his neck and called Lin Anyi’s name: 

“Lin Anyi, all these years, you can still only hide behind others like a little mouse.” His tone was contemptuous, “I used to think you were cute like this, if you could hide behind me for the rest of your life, I would be willing. But who knew that the little mouse had such big ambitions.”

“Fuck you…” Zhou Mingchen, unable to contain himself any longer, grabbed Dong Dapeng by the collar. 

Dong Dapeng wasn’t afraid, and he even laughed: “This is right in front of your school, do you dare to lay a hand on me?” 

“Damn it!” Zhou Mingchen’s breathing quickened, and he was about to raise his fist. 

“Zhou Mingchen!” Lin Anyi called out to stop him, and at the same time stepped past Shen Wanchao.

His eyes, in the sunlight, were a clear, visit our site deep brown. This color should have been warm, but at this moment it was freezing. 

Lin Anyi looked at Dong Dapeng and said, “You waited for me for so long just to say a bunch of annoying things and get beaten up?” 

“Hmph.” Dong Dapeng’s provocation had achieved its purpose, and he pushed Zhou Mingchen away, “You’ve really grown up, and your courage has also grown. You dare to talk to me like that.” 

Lin Anyi ignored his nonsense and just stared at him. 

Dong Dapeng sighed. He straightened his hair and the rumpled collar Zhou Mingchen had made, then looked up and asked softly, 

“Do you want to see your biological father?” 

Lin Anyi froze. 

This was something he hadn’t expected. He had anticipated Dong Dapeng saying all sorts of things to anger him, and he was confident he could handle it calmly, but he hadn’t expected the first thing the other would say. 

Shen Wanchao was also surprised, but after recovering, he immediately ​unauthorized copy​grabbed Lin Anyi’s hand. 

Then, Shen Wanchao asked Dong Dapeng, “Do you know who his biological parents are?” 

“I only know one,” Dong Dapeng smiled, revealing a row of white teeth, “It’s the male Omega who gave birth to him.” 

Zhou Mingchen didn’t believe him, “You say so, who knows if you’re just making this up?”

Shen Wanchao’s heart sank. 

Dong Dapeng hadn’t lied. 

The person who conceived Lin Anyi was indeed a male Omega. 

The documentary Shen Wanchao directed explored the various troubles faced by Alphas and Omegas due to the presence of pheromones, primarily focusing on Omegas. 

Because suppressants were expensive, many Omegas living at the bottom of society couldn’t afford them. During their heat cycles, they could only rely on blocking patches to tough it out, or simply let it run its course[Read on], leading to many tragedies hidden in the shadows. 

Several episodes of the documentary specifically focused on innocent new lives accidentally born during an Omega’s heat cycle, one of whom was Lin Anyi. 

Shen Wanchao had heard from the old director of the orphanage that Lin Anyi was brought to them by an excessively young Omega one late autumn evening.

Although abandoning an infant was a crime, due to the special physiological condition of Omegas, in practice, if it was verified that an Omega was indeed incapable of raising a child, they were allowed to send the child to a social care institution without liability. 

Nearly a quarter of the children at the Starlight Orphanage came there for this reason. 

However, Shen Wanchao only knew that the other party was a young male Omega. The old director was unwilling to reveal more details and instructed Shen Wanchao not to tell Lin Anyi anything about his biological father. 

For the children at the orphanage, knowing the specific circumstances of their biological parents could be a cruel thing. 

How did Dong Dapeng know about Lin Anyi’s biological father? 

Shen Wanchao looked at Lin unauthorized copy Anyi with concern and noticed that his body was trembling slightly.  

Shen Wanchao’s heart tightened. He whispered to Lin Anyi, “Xiao Yi, don’t take his words to heart. He must have another purpose in saying that.” 

When he heard Shen Wanchao’s words, Zhou Mingchen immediately turned to Dong Dapeng: “What purpose do you have?” 

“Purpose?” Dong Dapeng still had an unpleasant smile on his face. “I don’t have any purpose. If I had to say…” 

He looked at Lin Anyi and slowly said, “It’s just to remind him that he should recognize his place. He’s just an abandoned baby born from an Omega who’s too poor to even support himself and a stranger. He’s fundamentally the same worthless life as me. Don’t even think about changing your fate!” 

Zhou Mingchen was trembling with anger: “With such a foul mouth, haven’t you ever been beaten up outside?” 

Dong Dapeng ignored him and just looked at Lin Anyi. 

“You’ve latched onto a rich guy now, but have you thought about the future?” Dong Dapeng continued, “If your biological father comes looking for you to help him out, can you completely ignore it? Even if you can ignore it at first, what will people think of you? Can you bear the gossip? If you really want to help him, will these suckers who are sponsoring you be willing to help your father as well?” 

“Xiao Yi, I know you. You’ve always been a good kid who doesn’t like to trouble others. The people who are sponsoring you are willing to help you continue your studies because Read on of your good grades. But they have no obligation to sponsor your biological father as well. I’m sure you don’t want to drag them into it.” 

“But what if your biological father is a scoundrel who doesn’t care about anything else and insists on finding the suckers to pay for him? What will you do then?” 

Dong Dapeng pointed at Shen Wanchao, then at Zhou Mingchen, and said, “They are your benefactors, Xiao Yi, you certainly won’t repay kindness with enmity, will you?” 

“Only by returning to where you belong, returning to my side, can you stop being a burden to those who have been kind to you.” 

“They are from a world different than yours. Only I, from the very beginning, have been in the same hell as you. And only I don’t care about the trouble you might bring me. Just like when we were kids, no matter what trouble you get into, I’ll take the blame for you. I’ll support all your decisions. If your biological father comes knocking on your door in the future, if you want to deal with him, I won’t stand idly by; if you don’t want to see him, I’ll solve it for you.” 

Dong Dapeng reached out his hand to Lin Anyi: “Xiao Yi, I love you. Just say the word, and I’ll do anything for you.” 

Zhou Mingchen couldn’t take it anymore and stepped forward to kick this scoundrel, but Lin Anyi stopped him. 

Then, he took a step forward himself. 

“Xiao Yi!” Shen Wanchao quickly grabbed his hand. “Don’t listen to Read on his nonsense.” 

Lin Anyi didn’t answer Shen Wanchao, but faced Dong Dapeng and slowly said, 

“Dong Dapeng, all you’re saying is just to find an Omega willing to have your child.” 

Dong Dapeng’s expression changed: “Xiao Yi, how could you say that…” 

“You consider yourself lowly, but at the same time you’re arrogant about your Alpha status. You believe that since you were born an Alpha, your other half must be an Omega to be worthy of you, yet you’re cowardly and dare not aspire to those Omegas who are born wealthy and privileged.” 

Lin Anyi’s tone was calm to the point of being cold. 

“That’s why you’re unwilling to let go of me, the only Omega who shares your status, and even whom you can look down upon.” 

“You’re angry because I’ve exceeded your control and gone to what you consider a higher level of world. So you humiliate and belittle me, just to drag me back into your quagmire.” 

Dong Dapeng’s lips twitched, his face grim: “Xiao Yi, don’t Read onbe so harsh with your words.” 

Lin Anyi didn’t care how harsh the words were; today, he had decided to make everything clear: 

“You always bring up the fact that you saved me when I was little. You constantly emphasize that if it weren’t for you, I would have been hurt by bad people. But in reality, you, who try to use kindness to control me, possess me, and exploit my reproductive value as an Omega, are no different in essence from that visiting beast in human clothing.” 

“You only see me as a reward for your bravery in defeating evil people when you were young, and you’ve never seen me as a real person with independent will.” 

“You’re always kind to me with something in return, just wrapped in a cloak of what you call love.” 

“You’ve never loved me. From beginning to end, the only person you’ve ever loved is yourself.” 

“I used to think unconditional love didn’t exist. I even thought a few times, if that’s all the repayment you need, maybe I should stop being so selfish and just marry you.” 

“But after meeting him,” Lin Anyi looked at Shen Wanchao, then glanced at Zhou Mingchen, “after meeting them, I realized that true love doesn’t demand anything in return.” 

Lin Anyi took a deep breath. He swallowed the bitterness rising in his throat, and said: “If my biological father really wants to come looking for me, let him come. I have [Read on]a clear conscience and I’m not afraid of him.” 

“As for you, if you ever appear in front of me again, I’ll call the police immediately.” 

These words left no room for compromise, directly tearing open Dong Dapeng’s shameful thoughts and laying them bare under the sun. 

Dong Dapeng felt a burning pain on his face. He was furious, but in the end, he realized he really couldn’t do anything to Lin Anyi. 

Before leaving in a panic, he could only viciously say, “Fine, you’re heartless enough. You just wait!” 

…

Author’s Note: This story has a unique premise: Alphas and Omegas are few in number, making up less than 20% of the total population, with Omegas comprising only about 8%. Alphas possess a comparative advantage in social competition and often occupy a higher socioeconomic status. Furthermore, they tend to mate with Omegas, and the probability of an Alpha-Omega couple producing offspring of the same Alpha type is far higher than that of a Beta couple. These factors combined result in a significant portion of Alphas and Omegas occupying a higher socioeconomic status, making them the primary customers for inhibitors. Pharmaceutical companies set high prices for inhibitors to avoid major public outcry and social problems, thus ignoring and sacrificing the needs of the minority of Omegas at the lower socioeconomic levels.

This story has a second personal setting: the price of one inhibitor dose ranges from approximately 300 ($44) to 1500 yuan ($220). Generally, an Omega without a partner needs 4-6 doses per year. This is after price adjustments; a decade or so ago, even the cheapest inhibitors were priced at over 1000 yuan ($146). Nowadays, hospitals also offer customized inhibitors based on individual physiological conditions, which are more expensive but have fewer side effects.