After I Stopped Being a Simp, My Husband Fell for Me on His Own - Chapter 2

Yu Yi irritably tore the overdue utility notice off his door and entered the dilapidated studio apartment he rented.

While showering, he discovered that the hot water had already been cut off. Fortunately, the weather was warm enough that a cold shower did not freeze him. Standing under the showerhead, he scrubbed his neck vigorously, lathering it with soap several times before sniffing his palm hard as if to confirm a suspicion.

There was no scent; there was only the smell of cheap soap.

He truly could not smell pheromones at all. In the military academy, a place with an incredibly high concentration of Alphas and Omegas, Yu Yi lived like an outlier. Although there were many Betas in his class, only those from noble backgrounds or the exceptionally talented were qualified to attend this school.

Yu Yi fit neither category, yet somehow he touched upon both. He had an incredibly successful biological father and a legendary “White Moonlight” stepmother. Yu Yi did not even know if his luck in the “reincarnation lottery” was good or bad.

He did not emerge from the bathroom with his wet head until his neck was scrubbed beet-red. Seeing that it was nearly 3:00 AM, he gave his hair a perfunctory wipe and collapsed into bed, not even bothered that he had not dried it. The beauty of youth was that even the greatest worries could be slept off.

When the alarm rang at 7:30 AM, Yu Yi reflexively scrubbed his neck again. He wished he could apply soap like lip balm and leave it there without rinsing. He wondered why these Alphas and Omegas had a sense of smell as sharp as dogs.

The morning lecture was Mecha Maintenance. Yu Yi did not even own a mecha; he had not even seen one before entering the academy. He only got to touch the machines during practical sessions. His foundation was a total mess, let alone his repair skills. All he could do was arrive early every day, sit in the back row, and pray the professor would not call on him.

As he listened to the lecture, which sounded like gibberish to him, the professor in front of the holographic screen adjusted his monocle. He looked down and swiped through the student roster on the virtual screen like he was picking targets.

The already quiet classroom fell into a suffocating silence. Yu Yi’s heart leaped into his throat. The professor cleared his throat, light reflecting off his lens. “Yu Yi, where is Yu Yi?”

The suspended heart finally died. Yu Yi let out a sigh. He was having the worst luck. He stood up slowly and said weakly, “I am here.”

Many students turned to stare at him. The professor sized him up and asked, “Answer this: during a field mission, under critical circumstances, what is the source of energy you can convert to provide for the Ability User?”

Yu Yi was dazed. What was it? Was it firepower, propulsion, or life force? Many things flashed through his mind, but strangely, his thoughts stopped at the overdue bill at his front door. It was 528 Star Credits. He wondered if there was a power leak somewhere because it was so much. He recalled paying only two months ago.

“Yu Yi?” the professor called his name again.

“Ah, yes.” Yu Yi snapped back to reality, feeling ashamed of his wandering mind.

Seeing him stammering and unable to speak for a long time, the professor gave a long sigh and said, “As a Beta, it was not easy for you to enter our academy. Since you are here, you must study hard. You may sit down.”

It was not sarcasm; that genuine sigh made Yu Yi feel even more humiliated. He sat down sheepishly, momentarily at a loss.

“It is the pheromone link,” the professor continued. “Only by fully trusting your partner and establishing a link between the two can energy be supplied.”

Yu Yi listened, feeling confused. He was a Beta and did not have pheromones, so he wondered how he was supposed to link with an Ability User.

During the lunch break, Yu Yi was the first to rush into the cafeteria. He collected three large bowls of free soup from the cafeteria robot and then ordered two bowls of free plain rice from the window. Mixing them together, this became Yu Yi’s lunch. Compared to the nutritional supplements he used to eat in the Lower District, this food was a delicacy to him.

Under the judgmental gazes of others, Yu Yi gulped down his soup-soaked rice while scrolling through his phone to see if there were any part-time jobs available tonight. Regarding his future, Yu Yi’s plan was laughably simple. He felt that not understanding the lectures did not matter as long as he could coast through four years and get a decent-looking diploma. At the very least, he could stay in the Upper District and find a respectable job to support himself.

Unfortunately, easy and high-paying jobs like the one at the nightclub last night did not come around every day. When there was no work at noon, Yu Yi stayed in the library to use the air conditioning. While napping with his head on his arms, his phone suddenly vibrated. He wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and dizzily swiped the screen. When he saw the name, he snapped awake.

The contact was labeled: Scumbag.

It was his father, Cheng Sui, the man who had abandoned his wife and son to follow his “White Moonlight.” It was a rare occurrence because his father almost never reached out to him. In fact, he hated seeing Yu Yi. Yu Yi’s existence was like a permanent stain on his relationship with his “White Moonlight,” a constant reminder that he had changed his mind while his true love was away on active duty. Not only had he changed his mind, but he also had a son.

Yu Yi felt that he and his mother were the truly innocent ones. He did not want to see his father either. The phone vibrated against the table, making him feel irritable. He thought about the overdue electricity, the upcoming rent, the professor’s genuine sigh in class, and his non-existent savings. Gritting his teeth, he answered. He hoped the scumbag had grown a conscience and decided to give him an allowance, or perhaps show mercy and offer him a storage room in that castle-like house.

“Hello, what is it?” Yu Yi really did not want to call him “Dad.”

“Come home. I have something to discuss with you,” came Cheng Sui’s unquestionable, command-like tone.

Yu Yi thought that his father had been a leader for too long and treated everyone like a subordinate. His rebellious streak flared up. “On what grounds?”

“If you want to keep drifting along like this, then pretend I never called.”

“You…”

The words struck a nerve. Yu Yi was speechless. He truly did not want to continue like this. He finally got into the school but could not keep up with the pace, and he did not even have time to self-study after class. However, he had to survive. Yu Yi conceded. “I have a class this afternoon. I will come over after it is finished.”

“Mhm.”

Every time Yu Yi came to this house, he felt a subtle sense of dislocation. After the age of three and until his mother passed away, he had never seen his father. From his earliest memories, he had lived with his mother in the ordinary Lower District. Ever since his mother met that “pretty boy” who looked slightly like Cheng Sui, they had moved from a high-end apartment to a regular old neighborhood. Their quality of life declined until they ended up in a remote, dilapidated shack.

It was hard to believe his biological father was so successful and possessed such staggering financial power. Thinking that half the blood of an Upper District elite flowed through his veins made Yu Yi feel uncomfortable. He felt like a poor relative visiting the big city.

The butler poured Yu Yi a cup of tea and stood aside with a smile. His movements were so standardized he looked like a mannequin. Waiting in the first-floor hall for Cheng Sui to come down, Yu Yi could not help but look up. The dome was covered in intricate, beautiful murals that looked quite exotic. Yu Yi looked at the seemingly endless staircase and sat back into the sofa, feeling a bit cramped. It was truly impressive.

After a while, Cheng Sui descended the stairs. He possessed the refined appearance of all high-ranking Alphas in the Upper District. The passage of time gave his every movement the charm of a mature man. Golden-framed glasses suppressed his gentleness, making him look cold, ruthless, and filled with the shrewdness of a businessman. After all, he was the Chairman of Commerce who controlled the market’s pheromone suppressants.

Yu Yi’s eyes and brows bore some resemblance to his father’s. This made him stand out among Betas, which helped him get the nightclub job and tips. Unfortunately, in the Upper District where genes were strictly screened, he was merely mediocre.

Cheng Sui sat opposite Yu Yi, sizing him up discreetly. He frowned slightly before quickly returning to his stoic expression. Yu Yi sensed this and felt a flash of annoyance. He leaned back, clearly not wanting to be too close to his biological father. He was wearing an old T-shirt that had turned stiff from repeated washing; his entire outfit probably cost less than a coaster on the table. Naturally, he was out of place in this home.

Cheng Sui got straight to the point: “Your younger brother differentiated yesterday.”

“Oh,” Yu Yi replied dryly. He thought that if he differentiated, it had nothing to do with him. He wondered if he was invited there to celebrate. He felt that he was not even worthy of being called a brother.

The “White Moonlight” was actually surnamed Bai; his name was Bai Changfeng. The son took his surname too: Bai Ziqi. Neither of Cheng Sui’s sons carried his surname.

“He differentiated as an Alpha,” Cheng Sui continued.

Yu Yi had seen Bai Ziqi once a few years ago. He looked more like Bai Changfeng, the perfect image of a chosen Omega. He was incredibly beautiful. As the only son of Bai Changfeng and Cheng Sui, his family’s doorstep should have been flattened by noble Alpha families seeking a match the moment he differentiated. Genetic testing at birth suggested an 80% chance of him becoming an Omega after age 14. The family had raised him with that goal, and he had attended the affiliated schools of the Defense Academy his whole life, prepared to become the right hand of a high-ranking Ability User. It turned out he had differentiated as an Alpha instead. But again, that had nothing to do with Yu Yi.

“Uh, congratulations?” Yu Yi did not understand why his father was telling him this. An Alpha was still an Alpha; it was better than being a Beta like him. Moreover, since Bai Changfeng was a natural-gene Ability User, Bai Ziqi would likely be one too. As an Ability User, being an Alpha was more advantageous than being an Omega.

“The Ji family of the Military District… Changfeng received a lot of help from them while he was in the outer star systems.”

“Oh,” Yu Yi responded absent-mindedly, wondering how to bring up the topic of an allowance. School had only been in session for a few months. Working at the nightclub was barely enough for rent and utilities. If that bastard Lao Ba had not tricked him into a “guaranteed profit” business deal, he could have at least lasted until winter break.

“General Ji fought in the outer systems in his early years and married late. He had a son in his old age. His son,” Cheng Sui paused before continuing, “is also an exceptionally outstanding individual.”

“Mhm.” Yu Yi nodded. He did not care about this at all. He was thinking about the smoothest way to ask for money.

“He is eighteen this year, only two years younger than you. He has already been promoted directly from the high school department to the Command Academy.”

“Oh, truly impressive,” Yu Yi praised perfunctorily. It was indeed impressive. Everything Yu Yi was studying at the Defense Academy was designed to serve the future commanders graduating from the Command Academy. And the number of people who actually became commanders was tiny. Even someone as brilliant as Bai Changfeng was only admitted to the Combat Academy at age twenty. In other words, people in the Command Academy needed not only extraordinary talent but also an elite family background.

But Yu Yi wondered what that had to do with a Beta. The urgent matter was how to play the “pity card” for money.

“Ziqi had an engagement with their family since childhood. But as you know, Ziqi differentiated as an Alpha.”

“Mhm.” Yu Yi thought about saying he had been too busy to work lately.

“But the bond between our two families has always been close. We do not want this incident to lead to any estrangement.”

“Mhm.” Yu Yi wondered how much was appropriate. He thought five thousand Star Credits might work. Since he was there, he might as well ask him to pay his dormitory fees too. The academy’s housing was luxurious, consisting of a private one-bedroom suite. It was much better than his cramped rental where he could not even turn around.

“So, we hope that you can take Ziqi’s place and fulfill the marriage contract with the Ji family.”

Yu Yi nodded absent-mindedly. Cheng Sui breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with satisfaction. “I am so glad you do not object.”

Yu Yi thought that if the housing issue was solved, his biggest expense would be gone. Then he could earn living expenses by working and still have time to study. Suddenly, he realized what his father had said.

“What did you say?!”

Thinking Yu Yi had not heard clearly, Cheng Sui repeated his words. After hearing it again, Yu Yi’s head buzzed with fury. He realized he had been called there just to be sold off. Setting aside whether he knew that eighteen-year-old future commander, he wondered why he had to take Bai Ziqi’s place. He did not owe them anything.

“I refuse!” Yu Yi was furious. He questioned, “On what grounds? Just because he differentiated as an Alpha, I have to go fill his spot in an alliance? Are you really not afraid that my mother will come haunt you at night?”

At the mention of the deceased Yu Qing, Cheng Sui’s brow furrowed. Whether out of guilt or something else, he did not speak.

Yu Yi was so angry he forgot about the money. He blurted out, “Can you people with your ‘White Moonlights’ just get lost? You have already wronged me and my mother, and now you have the nerve to come to me with this?”

“Yu Yi!” Cheng Sui frowned. “Watch your tone when speaking to your elder.”

“What is wrong with my tone?!” Yu Yi raised his voice. “You have not cared about me since I was three, and now you want to discipline me? It is too late!”

With that, he stood up. “I do not agree. You guys figure it out yourselves! Goodbye!”

After saying his piece, he stormed out of the house.

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