AHDIBCB Chapter 02

Zhou Xingran glared hatefully. “Then hurry up and change into your own clothes. I’ll take you there now.”

This little troublemaker—better to get rid of him sooner rather than later! He still couldn’t understand how his aunt managed to give birth to someone who looked like this. Every alpha in the school would momentarily lose focus just by looking at him, as if they were bewitched. If he hadn’t tampered with his cousin’s pheromones, making them smell unbearable, this guy would’ve already been defiled by now.

Zhou Xingran refused to acknowledge his own jealousy, turning his face away to look elsewhere. Meanwhile, Yuan Yi picked up a corner of the original owner’s clothes and lifted them. “Are you sure you want me to change into this and go back?”

It was just a regular tracksuit, but it was covered in wrinkles and dust, with visible tears—clear evidence that the previous owner had been in a violent struggle. Or, to put it more accurately, had struggled desperately.

Zhou Xingran also realized that the outfit wasn’t really fit to be worn again. But the clothes carried a faint scent. On its own, it smelled like ordinary laundry detergent, but when mixed with Yuan Yi’s pheromones, it gradually created a uniquely unpleasant pheromone scent—one that repelled others.

Oh well, it didn’t matter anymore. Yuan Yi would never have another chance to pursue the school heartthrob anyway. No matter how rich the heartthrob’s family was, they wouldn’t possibly arrange for a scent gland modification surgery for someone who was already married. Besides, this guy had already become a rat scorned by everyone at school.

Zhou Xingran ‘graciously’ said, “Suit yourself. But you’d better hold on to your old clothes, so the hospital staff won’t have to trouble themselves throwing them out for you.”

Yuan Yi didn’t bother changing. He left the hospital still wearing the powder-blue hospital gown designed for male omega patients. As for the old clothes, he didn’t throw them away either—he obediently held them in his arms.

Once aboard the Zhou family’s private aircraft, Yuan Yi seemed to truly become Yuan Yi again.

He sat quietly, gazing down at the ground through the window, retracting the sharpness he had briefly shown in the hospital room. It made Zhou Xingran start to wonder if he had just been seeing things back there…

Zhou Tandai was usually busy with work and rarely stayed at home. But over the past few days, he had been staying in the house specifically to handle the marriage alliance between the Li and Zhou families. Now that things had finally gone his way, with an unexpected bonus in the genetic compatibility report, he was eager to finalize the arrangement as soon as possible.

Seeing both his nephew and son obediently stepping through the door, Zhou Tandai finally felt half-relieved. With a warm smile, he said, “It’s good that you’re back. Xiao Yi, come sit here. Tell me, what was all that nonsense about? Whatever the issue, couldn’t we have discussed it properly as a family? You really gave your aunt and me quite the scare.”

Yuan Yi thought to himself, If the roles were reversed—if the original owner had been in Zhou Xingran’s position—there wouldn’t have been any need for suicide. Zhou Tandai would have taken care of him personally. And now he’s talking about being ‘scared’? What a family of hypocrites.

However, he didn’t maintain the same composed demeanor he had in the hospital. Instead, he carefully sat down on the sofa, knees pressed together, hands nervously twisting in his lap, and murmured an apology, “I’m sorry, Uncle. It was all my fault for being immature.”

Zhou Tandai was clearly very satisfied with this display of repentance, and his smile became even more genuine. “Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself. It was just an unfortunate accident—someone carelessly brought contraband into school, and you ended up being the one who suffered for it. You’ve always been an obedient and sensible child. Do you think your uncle doesn’t know what really happened? But this incident really gave us all a scare. You mustn’t let something like this get to you again.”

Yuan Yi nodded. From the moment he stepped into the house, he had maintained the perfect attitude of remorse. Even now, when hearing such an unfair remark, he merely lowered his head and toyed with his fingers.

If it weren’t for the fact that he recalled Zhou Xingran meeting with that alpha who had the inducement agent—and that the two seemed to be quite familiar with each other—he wouldn’t have suspected Zhou Xingran was behind it. But that didn’t matter anymore.

Zhou Tandai continued, “I heard from your cousin that before coming here, you already agreed to marry into the Li family?”

Yuan Yi nodded again. He hesitantly lifted his head, a trace of unease in his expression. “Uncle, I understand that this marriage alliance will benefit both our families. But since I don’t know the Li family very well, if I really have to marry into their household, could you grant me two small requests?”

Seeing that Yuan Yi was genuinely agreeing, Zhou Tandai was overjoyed. He quickly nodded. “Of course, of course! Tell me what you want. As long as it’s within my power, I’ll make it happen.”

“I’d like a house of my own, and I’d also like some cash. I remember that when my parents passed away, they left behind a property. Could I have that house? As for cash, I’d like two million.”

This family had been collecting rent from that property for years, all while holding onto the stocks and funds Yuan Yi’s parents left behind. Asking them to give him a portion now was completely reasonable. As for why he wasn’t demanding everything at once—first, because they wouldn’t agree, and second, because he had other plans.

“Oh, I thought it was something serious. Of course, that’s no problem,” Zhou Tandai said cheerfully. “Since you’re marrying into the Li family, your aunt and I were planning to prepare a dowry for you anyway. No matter what, you were raised by our Zhou family, and we won’t shortchange you on what you deserve. How about this? For the house, we’ll do as you said and give you the one your parents left behind. In that case, we won’t prepare an additional property for you. As for the money, we’ll give you a little extra—if you behave and cooperate with both the military and the Li family’s arrangements, I’ll give you three million. Does that sound good?”

Yuan Yi sighed inwardly with a cold “tsk.”

He knew that what needed to be given had to be given—there was no point in bringing up how the Zhou family had raised him. Besides, three million here was roughly equivalent to about five hundred thousand back on Earth. For an average family, it was certainly a significant amount, but for a family like this, it was merely a drop in the ocean.

Still, as long as nothing unexpected happened, this “drop in the ocean” would be enough to cover his living expenses for three years. And with a place to stay, he would have time to figure out a way to earn more income.

Yuan Yi nodded. “Thank you, Uncle.”

Zhou Tandai waved a hand dismissively. “It’s nothing. It’s rare to see you so understanding. But you don’t need to worry too much—Elder Li and his wife hold great prestige in the education sector and are people of integrity. Once you’re there, they definitely won’t mistreat you.”

Yuan Yi remained silent, keeping his head lowered. His expression showed both helplessness and deep unease, as if he had no choice but to accept his fate.

Zhou Xingran leaned against the sofa on the side, watching the scene unfold. He thought to himself, What the hell? In front of his dad, Yuan Yi was putting on such a pitiful act, but when dealing with him, he had the audacity to bare his fangs and claws.

Still, at least he didn’t bring up the idea of making him publicly clear his name at school. That would have been unbearable!

Zhou Xingran secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

But just then, his father spoke up, “Xingran, head to school later and tell your classmates that the matter from a few days ago has been fully investigated. It turns out someone had arranged to meet your cousin, and the heat cycle incident was just an accident. It wasn’t some malicious scheme of his. Do you hear me?”

The slap to the face came too fast—Zhou Xingran nearly bit his tongue. He protested reluctantly, “Is that really necessary, Dad? He’s already agreed to marry into the Li family. Does clearing his name even matter anymore?”

Zhou Tandai’s face darkened. “Of course it matters! Xiao Yi is going to the Li family—do you think he should carry such an awful reputation with him? You’d better remember this: he’s leaving from our Zhou family. He represents us. Get that straight!”

Zhou Xingran shot Yuan Yi a glare and muttered begrudgingly, “Oh.”

Yuan Yi smiled. “Then I’ll have to trouble you, cousin.”

Idiot. Zhou Xingran clearly knew that Zhou Tandai valued status and reputation above all else, but he had no idea just how much. When it came to those two things, everything else took a back seat. So clearing his name was never something Yuan Yi needed to specifically push for—Zhou Tandai was bound to make Zhou Xingran handle it anyway.

Seeing how “understanding” the two children were, Zhou Tandai nodded in satisfaction. “Then it’s settled. Xiao Yi, go get ready. The higher-ups are pressing for this, and you might still need to complete some medical examinations before proceeding with the conception, so it’s best not to delay.”

Yuan Yi said, “But Uncle, I still have one more request I haven’t mentioned.”

Zhou Tandai’s expression darkened slightly. “What other request do you have?”

Yuan Yi said, “I want to change my name. I want to change the last character to the ‘Yi’ in ‘perseverance’ (毅).”

Zhou Xingran frowned in discontent. “You’re already an adult! Do you know how troublesome it is to change a name? And it’s just one character—the pronunciation is exactly the same! What’s the point? You’re just making trouble for no reason!”

Zhou Tandai also found it hard to understand. If he wanted to completely change his name, that would make sense. But changing just one character, especially when it sounded identical—what was the use?

Yuan Yi said, “Uncle, changing a name might be troublesome for ordinary families, but for someone of your status, it’s just a matter of a few words. I simply don’t want my name to sound too common. The Li elders are academics—I’m afraid they might find the current character too materialistic.”

Zhou Tandai found this reasoning somewhat valid. The Li family, along with the Jian family—Li Heng’s maternal family—were both prestigious clans with deep academic traditions. They placed great importance on things that might seem trivial to outsiders.

So, he agreed. “Alright. I’ll make the necessary arrangements. You can go to the official website and submit a name change request. Once it’s approved, it’ll be finalized.”

Yuan Yi nodded. “Thank you, Uncle. I have no other requests. As long as the money and house are transferred to my name, I’ll fully cooperate with your arrangements.”

Zhou Tandai said, “Good. Go upstairs and rest for now. I’ll contact the Li family shortly, and they’ll want to meet you. Do your best to make a good impression. As long as they officially agree to take you in, the money and house will be yours immediately.”

Yuan Yi nodded and went upstairs, following the original owner’s memories to find his room.

The Zhou family lived in a villa. He and Zhou Xingran both stayed on the third floor, but while Zhou Xingran had a spacious suite, his own room was just a cramped bedroom—barely big enough to fit a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe.

The original owner had lived in this tiny space for fifteen years, yet Zhou Xingran still had the audacity to tell people they had been treated equally since childhood, insisting that the family never played favorites.

What a joke. The only thing that looked the same was their clothes—everything else was vastly different.

When they were kids, Zhou Xingran’s mother, Fang Jing, had signed them both up for the same extracurricular classes, paying for two spots. But every time before class, she would give them something to eat. Without fail, after eating, the original owner would end up with an upset stomach and diarrhea as soon as the class started.

After this happened multiple times, Fang Jing started telling others that her nephew got too nervous outside the house and wasn’t suited for early education.

As a result, Zhou Xingran attended all the classes, while the original owner was left with nothing but schoolwork. The only skill he had was drawing, something he had taught himself at home, which eventually led him to apply for a design program.

Though he had been deprived of extracurricular activities, the Zhou family didn’t go so far as to deny him a formal education—after all, too many people were watching, and they had a reputation to uphold.

But Yuan Yi absolutely refused to believe that the food the original owner had been given before class had been completely harmless.

Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence? He was perfectly fine at school, yet every time he went to an extracurricular class, he had stomach trouble. It was nothing more than taking advantage of the fact that the original owner was too young and naive to realize what was happening.

Yuan Yi sat on the bed, unable to resist turning his head slightly to sniff at himself.

Ever since he brought back that piece of clothing, his scent had become… difficult to describe. And this room wasn’t helping—there were more than just one or two sets of such clothes here, making it impossible for him to get a clear sense of his own pheromone scent.

In the original owner’s memory, when he first differentiated, his scent had been pleasant. But without money for a proper test, and since his pheromones weren’t a particularly common type, even he himself had never learned the exact name of his own scent.

Not long after the original owner differentiated, Zhou Xingran had forcibly dragged him to a small hospital for a pheromone test. The result claimed that his scent was “pudicao” (Pratia grass), an unpleasant smell. But Yuan Yi suspected something was off about that, too.

Bringing that set of clothes with him was part of his plan to figure some things out.

The original owner didn’t have many belongings. Yuan Yi opened every drawer he could, but there wasn’t much of value inside. Aside from essential documents, there was a single diary.

He didn’t even need to open it to know what was inside—just pages filled with sketches of the school heartthrob.

Useless.

Without hesitation, he tossed it into the trash.

Meanwhile, downstairs, someone was having a conversation about this very “trash.”

Zhou Tandai said, “You keep bringing up this school heartthrob—what’s his name, Bai Wanzhe? If he’s really that outstanding, then once Xiao Yi’s matter is settled, bring him over to meet your mother and me. If he’s as good as you say, I won’t oppose your relationship.”

Zhou Xingran lit up with excitement. “Really, Dad? I knew you were the best! Once that idiot Yuan Yi is out of here, I’ll bring Senior Bai over to meet you.”

Zhou Tandai said, “Alright, then go to school later and clear up the issue about Xiao Yi using an inducer. I still have to contact the Li family. Before that, you must take care of this mess you caused. Otherwise, don’t blame me if I don’t approve of your relationship with that Bai guy.”

Zhou Xingran pouted. “Got it.” Then he hesitated before adding, “By the way, Dad, don’t you think there’s something… off about Yuan Yi?”