After I Stopped Being a Simp, My Husband Fell for Me on His Own - Chapter 1

Yu Yi squeezed in front of the mirror in the nightclub restroom, frantically spraying pheromones onto the back of his neck. When he finished, he rubbed his wrists against the rim of the bottle to catch the remaining liquid, which was precious to the last drop, and smeared it onto his forehead.

A colleague standing nearby approached with a playful grin, craning his neck. “Hey, give me a little too?”

Yu Yi rolled his eyes irritably. “Get lost. Do you have any idea how expensive this bottle is?”

After finishing the spray, he tucked the tiny bottle into his pocket like a treasure. He adjusted the rabbit ears on his head, pulled up his ill-fitting bunny girl outfit, and wiggled his hips as he walked out of the restroom.

The white rabbit tail on his rear was fluffy and gave a little bounce with every step.

As a Beta working in a nightclub, spraying on Omega pheromones could more than double his tips for the night. If it were not for the fact that the patrons at this club were exceptionally generous, Yu Yi would never have spent so many Star Credits on a tiny bottle of this substance.

He could not smell a single thing. To him, it was no different from plain water.

This was his last shift of the day. Once finished, he could go home and sleep. He had an early class tomorrow and hoped the scent on the back of his neck would vanish completely before then.

The moment he left the restroom, the impatience on Yu Yi’s face vanished, replaced by a beaming smile. He grabbed a tray of drinks from the bar and maneuvered through the crowd of Alphas, who were already bleary-eyed from drinking. He pitched his voice into a high, flirtatious tone. “Master, please be careful not to bump into the bunny. Would you like a glass?”

Thanks to the several pumps of pheromones he had just applied, Alphas turned to look at him wherever he passed.

Tips were stuffed into his deep V-neckline. The sound of banknotes rubbing against his chest made Yu Yi even more excited. He was practically dancing through the crowd.

At this hour, Omegas brave enough to visit a nightclub were few and far between. Yu Yi, drenched in Omega pheromones, was like a glowing golden peacock in the crowd, displaying his scent in a full 360-degree radius as he carried his tray.

What scent did I buy again? Was it Gardenia?

Yu Yi had forgotten. Being as frugal as he was, he had definitely picked the least expensive option at the black market.

He spun around too joyfully, forgetting that his rented outfit was not of the best quality. Once the tray was empty and he prepared to fetch a new round, he realized the tail on his rear was gone.

Yu Yi’s heart skipped a beat.

If this set was not returned in its entirety, he would have to pay for it at full price.

That was a ridiculous thought. One hundred Star Credits for this piece of junk? He would be working the whole night for nothing.

Yu Yi’s expression turned grim. Forgetting the drinks, he tucked the tray under his arm and hunched over, searching everywhere for his lost rabbit tail.

Eventually, in a corner booth, he spotted a pair of polished, high-top leather boots stepping right on his fluffy tail.

The owner of the boots seemed completely unaware. He sat silently in the shadows, his leather buckles meticulously fastened around his sturdy ankles, making his crossed long legs look straight and handsome.

“Ah!” Yu Yi screamed as he ran over. “My tail!”

In the heat of the moment, he forgot to keep his voice high and bunny-like.

Yu Yi dropped to the floor, attempting to rescue his tail from under the shoe. Just as his hand was about to touch the leather, he suddenly remembered that the minimum spend for one night in this club was nearly equivalent to a year of his tuition. He did not dare touch a shoe that looked more expensive than his life.

At this thought, he calmed down, cleared his throat, and pitched his voice up again. “Master, you are stepping on the bunny’s tail.”

As he spoke, he looked up with a pitiful expression.

The owner of the boots was an Alpha. He was leaning back casually against the leather sofa of the booth, only sitting up slightly when Yu Yi spoke.

Half of an excessively exquisite and cold face emerged from the darkness. The other half remained hidden in the shadows.

Even just that half-face made Yu Yi dazed for a moment.

“Damn, what a handsome Alpha,” he thought.

Even for Yu Yi, who had seen plenty of high-level Alphas, the man’s face made his heart skip a beat.

The Alpha before him looked overly noble. His long eyes slanted upward, and when he looked down slightly at Yu Yi, there was a natural sense of detachment. He was like an untouchable flower on a high mountain.

“What?” The man frowned slightly, not quite following.

Even his voice sounded beautiful.

Yu Yi hugged his tray, pressing down on the tips in his collar and his racing heart. He continued in his high-pitched voice. “Master, you are stepping on the bunny’s tail.”

Only then did the man seem to notice. He silently lifted his foot.

The rabbit tail, now dirty and flattened, lay there like a clump of ruined cotton.

A handsome man of this caliber was a once-in-a-millennium find. Pushing aside his regret for the tail and adhering to his principle of taking any advantage he could get, Yu Yi stood up, turned around, and said to the Alpha, “Handsome, why do you not help the bunny put the tail back on?”

Silence followed. The Alpha did not move an inch.

Yu Yi was not embarrassed by the rejection. His eyes crinkled into crescents as he smiled, picked up the tail from the ground, and slapped it back onto his rear with the bravado of applying a medicinal patch. “The bunny was just joking. I have to go now, bye-bye.”

With that, he walked away with his tray tucked under his arm. His mood soared because he had successfully flirted with a super-handsome Alpha.

After finishing his shift, he finally got out of that bunny girl outfit. The dressing room was sweltering and lacked air conditioning. Stripping the costume off nearly exhausted him.

Yu Yi swept his sweat-dampened hair back and, dressed in his own faded T-shirt and shorts, headed toward the alley behind the back door. There was a wonton stall there that stayed open until the early morning. Its prices were among the few affordable ones in the Upper District.

As for the fact that it was mostly dough and you had to smack your lips to taste even a hint of meat, that was a minor detail. For five Star Credits, one could not expect much more.

He sat with his legs spread, slurping wontons while counting the tips he had received tonight. Not bad. It was enough to buy him two weeks’ worth of wontons.

But eating was not enough. He could not afford the school dormitory fees, so he rented a small, dilapidated single room nearby. Land in the Upper District was worth its weight in gold. Even a tiny room barely larger than a coffin cost him one thousand five hundred Star Credits a month.

At that thought, the joy of counting money evaporated. Yu Yi gritted his teeth and tapped his phone to call a contact labeled “Old Eight.”

It took a long while for the other side to pick up. The music was loud and filled with laughter. It seemed the first half of their night was not over yet.

“Hello? Brother Yi?”

“Do not call me your brother!” Yu Yi set down his chopsticks and went straight to the point. “When are you paying me back?”

The noise on Old Eight’s end dimmed as he moved to a quieter spot. “Oh, did I not say I lost it all? Where am I supposed to find the money for you?”

Yu Yi gnashed his teeth. “I cannot even afford my rent this month! If you do not pay me back, I am moving into your place!”

“Brother Yi, you know the size of my place. If you move in, the only thing you can use me for is a mattress.”

“Then I will use you as a mattress! Pay me back!” Yu Yi roared with full strength.

“Let me think of something else, okay?” Old Eight sighed. “Brother Yi, your dad is so rich. He even got you into the Defense Academy. How can he not afford this little bit of money?”

“That is none of your business!” Yu Yi snapped. “Just pay me back!”

“Fine, fine, fine. Three days. Give me three days.”

“Tomorrow!”

“The signal is bad. What did you say?”

“Now!”

The call cut off.

Yu Yi gritted his teeth and dialed back, only to find the phone was turned off. Fuming, he slurped up the remaining soup, leaving not even a scrap of dough behind.

“Check, please!”

Old Eight was not wrong about one thing. Yu Yi’s biological father was not just rich; he was incredibly wealthy. He was the decisive Chairman of Business and Trade in the Upper District. He was the kind of man whose approval was needed for every suppressant circulating on the market.

Furthermore, he was a high-level Alpha. Unfortunately, Yu Yi’s mother was an ordinary Beta. And so, Yu Yi was born as an ordinary Beta.

It was quite bizarre. Even when a high-level Alpha reproduces with a Beta, there is only a ten percent chance of producing a Beta child. Yu Yi was that unlucky lucky one.

To make matters worse, his scumbag father, Cheng Sui, had a “White Moonlight,” which is a term for a first love. She had also graduated from the military academy, specifically the neighboring Combat Academy. After she returned from serving in another star system, Cheng Sui’s heart followed her to the ends of the earth.

His parents divorced when he was three. In a situation where the social statuses were so mismatched, Cheng Sui had enough power to leave the mother and son with nothing. However, Cheng Sui had a bit of a conscience. He gave Yu Yi and his mother a substantial sum of money before pursuing his true love. It was said he spent three years winning her over.

To this day, it was still considered a beautiful, legendary romance in the Upper District. Every time Yu Yi heard about it, he wanted to gag.

His mother did not linger either. She immediately changed Yu Yi’s surname to hers and moved them away. There was a condition for the money. They had to disappear from the Upper District.

To Cheng Sui, Yu Yi and his mother, Yu Qing, were stains on his loyalty to his first love. Naturally, he did not want them appearing before him. Thus, Yu Qing took Yu Yi from the Upper District to the remote Lower District.

“You have no idea how beautiful that White Moonlight is. She is a high-level Omega and a military officer, too. I heard she just got back from serving in another galaxy.” Yu Qing was quite optimistic. She felt that if the love was gone, so be it. She had not suffered during the years of marriage and got plenty of money from the divorce. She could even excitedly discuss the woman with Yu Yi. “Your dad said she and I look alike. Where exactly do we look alike?”

Yu Yi replied, “You are actually excited about this?”

There were less optimistic moments, too. For instance, looking at the fifteen-year-old Yu Yi, who had average grades and average looks, she would sigh. “If you were a high-level Alpha or Omega, maybe our family would not have broken up.”

Yu Yi said, “Even if you gave birth to Ultraman, it would not have mattered. He just does not like you.”

“Is that any way to talk to your mother?” Yu Qing said indignantly.

Before the age of sixteen, Yu Yi was like his mother. He was carefree, plain, but fulfilled. He felt he was just an average Beta on this planet, destined to work like an ox in this world full of pheromones.

Was that not the ordinary life of a Beta? It was fine. He had a mother and a home. Being ordinary was okay because he did not have great ambitions.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. On an ordinary afternoon, his mother performed a heroic act by saving people from a fire, but no one made it out alive.

She left too abruptly. Yu Yi did not even know what happened. He went for a swim, and when he came back, his home was gone. He truly became an orphan.

Most of the money from the divorce had been squandered by the Alpha his mother had dated later. Half of what remained was taken by maternal grandparents he had never even met after they sued for a share.

Yu Yi was only a teenager then and did not understand the situation. He was tricked by lawyers in court into signing a bunch of documents, thinking he was still getting a lot of money.

As it turned out, once he started living on his own, he realized that small sum was not nearly enough to support himself until adulthood. He did not even have stable housing.

His father’s family had no intention of taking him in. Despite living in the most luxurious area of the Upper District, they would not even give him a room.

One summer, his father showed mercy by letting him spend the break in the Upper District, but he made Yu Yi stay in the utility room.

Watching his younger brother, who was five years younger, smart, beautiful, and clearly destined to be a high-level Omega, Yu Yi felt for the first time the chasm between people. It was a true chasm. Yu Yi felt he would never be able to cross it in his lifetime. He never went back to his father’s house again.

He muddled through until he was eighteen. With terrible grades, he failed to get into university. After working in the Upper District for a few months, he suddenly realized that if he did not get an education, he would be stuck like this forever.

For the first time in his life, Yu Yi felt unwilling to settle. He begged his father for the first time. Using his father’s connections, he got into the expensive Defense Academy under the military university.

The high cost was justified. The academy was essentially for training future partners for high-level Alphas from the military school. Most of Yu Yi’s classmates were Omegas or Betas from wealthy families. He, in his poverty, was completely out of place.

Originally, his father’s White Moonlight suggested that Yu Yi should go back to retake his classes and see where he could get in. Even the Defense Academy was not meant for someone without a foundation.

But Yu Yi was a fool then. Feeling looked down upon and remembering his long-dead mother, he stood his ground. “I am going to the military school!”

His father was henpecked and only dared to sneak him in behind the White Moonlight’s back. The tuition was paid, but he did not dare provide living expenses.

Yu Yi’s head throbbed from the classes. The lectures sounded like gibberish. He could not afford the dorms, and he could not connect with his wealthy classmates. Last week, after finishing work, he had not washed the pheromones off his neck properly. Since he could not smell them, he did not realize that all the high-level Alphas and Omegas present could.

By that afternoon, he had heard the scandalous rumors about himself. The stories were more outrageous than the truth. Some even said he was pretending to be an Omega to sell himself.

Over time, Yu Yi’s reputation as a useless Beta was thoroughly ruined at the military academy.

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