Inferior Sincerity - Chapter 1

When Wen Yu opened his eyes, he saw a vast expanse of snowy white. The surgery was finally over. He stared blankly at the ceiling and thought about his situation.

He had undergone a gland replacement surgery. As an Omega, he had been implanted with the gland of another Omega. This was not a typical gland; it belonged to the destined match of the second young master of the famous Fu family in City A.

According to reports, Second Young Master Fu suffered from a very rare pheromone disorder syndrome. If he did not find his destined match before reaching adulthood, he would likely lose his sanity and become a simpleton due to repeated pheromone outbursts. To put it simply, the Fu family was in desperate need of a destined match to cure him.

The pheromones of every registered Omega in City A had been tested against those of the second young master, but every single test had ended in failure. The probability of an Alpha and Omega being a 100 percent match is infinitesimally small. Some people spend their entire lives without ever meeting their destined partner.

Wen Yu felt a sharp pain in his neck. He tried to turn his head to press the call button on the headboard, but the back of his neck throbbed intensely. It felt as if dozens of sharp needles were simultaneously piercing his skin. The pain was dense and impossible to ignore. He wanted a glass of water, but there was no one around him.

“Is anyone there?” Wen Yu asked in a dry, weak voice. This was the loudest sound he could manage, yet it remained as faint as the buzzing of a mosquito.

He called out several more times with quiet persistence. He prayed that someone would hear him, realize he was awake, and bring him a drink. After he repeated his call a few times, a nurse who appeared to be a Beta woman stepped into the room.

“You are awake,” the nurse said. She glanced at him and leaned down toward his pillow. She asked softly, “How are you feeling right now?”

“My neck hurts a lot, I am dizzy, and I feel nauseous,” Wen Yu replied honestly with a frown.

“Those reactions are normal,” the nurse said as she gently lifted his head to change his bandage. “You will feel better once the gland has had more time to integrate with your body.”

As she finished and placed the used gauze onto a tray, she turned to leave. Wen Yu quickly called out to her.

“Nurse, could you please give me a glass of water?” Wen Yu’s clear eyes stared directly at her. His voice carried a trace of a plea. He seemed to understand that everything in life comes at a price, so he was exceptionally cautious when asking others for help.

The nurse felt a pang of sympathy, and her eyes grew moist. The boy on the bed looked only fifteen or sixteen years old. He was extremely thin and clearly suffered from malnutrition because he had not been well-cared for. His face was only the size of her palm, and his complexion was deathly pale. This young child had undergone such a dangerous surgery without anyone to accompany him. He even had to ask a stranger for a simple glass of water with such timid care.

The nurse suppressed her emotions and smiled at him. She poured a glass of warm water for him. Since Wen Yu could not sit up yet, she fed it to him one sip at a time. He was so thirsty that his throat and lips were parched. He drank too quickly, causing water to spill from the corners of his mouth and soak his collar. He finished the first glass quickly, and the nurse asked if he wanted more.

Wen Yu nodded, so she poured him a second glass. This time, he drank much more slowly.

“Thank you, Nurse,” Wen Yu said politely. He appeared very well-behaved.

The nurse felt her heart soften under the gaze of his watery eyes. She was about to reach out and gently pat his head when the door to the ward opened. A woman with exquisite makeup and luxurious clothing entered the room. The nurse awkwardly pulled her hand back. She noticed that the boy’s eyes immediately dimmed when he saw the woman.

“Madam Zhou,” the nurse said respectfully with a bow.

Shen Yazhi glanced at her carelessly and said, “You may leave now.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the nurse replied. She closed the door as she exited, leaving Shen Yazhi and Wen Yu alone in the large room.

“How are you feeling?” Shen Yazhi asked as she sat on the sofa next to the bed.

“I am not dead yet,” Wen Yu replied coldly.

Shen Yazhi sneered at his tone but chose not to argue about his lack of manners. “On the 15th of next month, Shen Yuqing and Cheng Xinyou will get engaged. Second Young Master Fu will definitely attend that event. That will be your only chance,” she said.

Wen Yu’s heart tightened when he heard this. He had not expected Shen Yuqing to be engaged so soon. Shen Yuqing was the eldest young master of the Fu family and the half-brother of the second young master. Wen Yu knew him well. Before he was known as the eldest young master of the Fu family, Wen Yu used to call him Brother Yuqing.

The Zhou family had found the second young master’s destined match in a slum in City C before the Fu family could. However, that person was terminally ill. The Zhou family took it upon themselves to make a deal with that person and successfully transplanted the gland into Wen Yu. Their goal was easy to guess; they wanted to use Wen Yu to save the failing Zhou family.

The failure rate for a gland replacement surgery is as high as 75 percent, and the mortality rate is 63 percent. This was undoubtedly a dangerous gamble. Because Wen Yu was an illegitimate child, very few people knew he existed. It was logical that his pheromone information had never been registered.

Now, they needed an accident to let the Fu family know that the match they had been searching for was at the Zhou house. The Zhou family could not be the ones to initiate contact. It had to appear that Second Young Master Fu accidentally marked Wen Yu and discovered the match himself. Only then would the marriage between the two families seem natural, allowing the Zhou family to negotiate better terms.

Shen Yazhi saw the look on Wen Yu’s face and mocked him. “Why do you have that expression? Are you heartbroken?” Her face then darkened. “Do not overestimate yourself. Do you think Shen Yuqing would ever look at a bastard like you? You are just like your shameless mother. You both like to dream of people who are out of your league and spend your days trying to climb the social ladder.”

“It takes two to tango. Do you really think your husband is a good person?” Wen Yu looked at her and spoke with a cold voice. He knew her weaknesses. His birth was not something that his mother, the maid Wen Xiaohui, could have accomplished alone.

Shen Yazhi’s face turned black with anger. They stared at each other with mutual hatred. After a long silence, she spoke again with a sarcastic tone. “Wen Xiaohui spent her whole life dreaming of climbing high. Giving you the chance to be engaged to the Fu family fulfills her lifelong wish.”

“There is no one else here, so there is no need to speak so hypocritically,” Wen Yu said with disgust. “Just remember what you promised me.”

Wen Yu had agreed to this high-risk surgery because the servant who raised him, Cheng Xiaoling, was seriously ill and needed a large sum of money for medical fees. Shen Yazhi used this as a condition to lure Wen Yu into becoming a pawn for the Zhou family.

Wen Xiaohui had passed away when Wen Yu was twelve years old. He was brought back to the Zhou house from the slums, but it was not because of Shen Yazhi’s kindness. Wen Yu’s treatment in the Zhou house was worse than that of the servants. Shen Yazhi simply used him as a way to vent her hatred for his mother.

Wen Yu stayed in the hospital for more than half a month. The doctor checked him and confirmed that the integration of the gland was successful. Wen Yu discovered that he could now produce pheromones. They had a very sweet fragrance, but he did not know what the scent was called.

Those two weeks felt very long. Wen Yu spent most of his time staring blankly at the walls. Shen Yazhi visited once to give him a file on Second Young Master Fu so he could study it.

On the day he was discharged, the sun was shining brightly. As Wen Yu sat in the car, he watched the scenery flash by. He felt that his life was heading toward an unpredictable path, but he had no choice but to keep moving forward.

The engagement party for Shen Yuqing was attended by every influential person in City A. The Zhou family was insignificant in such a crowd. A large group of people surrounded Shen Yuqing to gain his favor, and he responded to everyone with polite grace. When the news of the engagement between Shen Yuqing and Cheng Xinyou broke, the stock prices of both families rose significantly. Everyone who saw them felt a mix of envy and admiration.

Wen Yu watched Shen Yuqing from a distance. The Alpha wore gold-rimmed glasses and a sharp white suit. He had handsome features and a gentle, refined temperament. When he spoke to others, he looked them in the eye and listened intently. He did not look down on anyone.

Wen Yu then saw the beautiful and elegant Omega standing beside him. It was clear she had been raised in luxury. They looked like a perfect match. Wen Yu realized they belonged to the same world. He raised his glass toward Shen Yuqing from across the room and finished his champagne. In his heart, he wished him a happy engagement and a life of happiness.

After a moment of sentimentality, Wen Yu began to search for Second Young Master Fu. He recognized the boy from the photo in the file. He had exquisite features and a very handsome appearance. Wen Yu had heard that the second young master used to visit the Zhou house in the past, but Wen Yu had always been confined to the servants’ quarters, so he had never seen him in person.

He looked around the room and finally saw an Alpha playing on his phone on the garden terrace. Wen Yu confirmed that this was the person he was looking for: the second young master of the Fu family, Fu Chen.