The Beta Wife Claimed by Competing Alphas - Chapter 37

“Last time, I suggested that aside from a sexual relationship, you should spend more time with that gentleman, stay in the same space, and record your feelings. Have you done that?”

Shang Qiyue leaned back lazily on the sofa and reported his feelings to the doctor truthfully.

“Just being together makes me feel pleasant. After sex, I feel satisfied, peaceful, and refreshed. This is very similar to a standard ‘fated pair’ or a relationship between a high-compatibility Alpha and Omega. As for smoking fewer cigars, I can’t think of any medical basis for that yet; it might just be psychological. But even for cigars, smoking less is a good thing.”

“I think for the next course of treatment, we can start from this direction. I’ll discuss it with my friends in the lab and send the report to you over the weekend.”

Shang Qiyue made a gesture to wait and picked up a phone call.

“Is that so? Okay, it’s fine. Yes, let’s keep in touch.”

A few minutes later, Shang Qiyue hung up.

“Let’s arrange it according to what you said. During this period, is there any specific cooperative behavior needed from me or him?”

“There’s no need for that in the first course. We are just making some changes to the medication. You just need to try to maintain a stable relationship with that gentleman.”

A stable relationship.

Shang Qiyue thought of Mu Yan’s obedient manner, how he remained unruffled no matter how much he was teased and his mood improved instantly. He couldn’t imagine anything that would make his relationship with Mu Yan unstable.

He had just introduced Mu Yan’s brother to a friend’s company. He told them to arrange a standard clerk position, pay him a bit more than a regular employee, and generally not make things difficult for him essentially just keeping him on as a favored idler.

But to his surprise, the HR from his friend’s company just called to tell him that Lin Yi had rejected the offer.

Shang Qiyue found this truly strange. His friend’s company was a legitimate, listed enterprise that paid tens of millions in taxes annually, a company everyone in City A knew. The channel used to contact Mu Yan’s brother was a formal corporate email to avoid making him feel like it was a “too good to be true” scam, and the starting salary was set at a normal clerk’s level.

The first time Shang Qiyue saw Mu Yan’s brother was at Liuguang. The Omega clearly knew what kind of place Liuguang was and why customers went there, yet he still didn’t want to go through with the final step; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been treated so badly.

If you are in sales and won’t sleep with clients, you have to work much harder, running around day and night and forcing smiles. If you’re unlucky and run into unreasonable people, you might work a whole month only to take home a base salary of 3,000 yuan.

Shang Qiyue couldn’t think of any reason why he would refuse this job.

As Shang Qiyue walked out of the research institute, his assistant, Xiao Luo, was waiting in the car.

“Shall I take you home, President Shang, or to Mr. Mu’s place?” Xiao Luo asked, observing his expression.

“To Mu Yan’s.” Shang Qiyue closed his eyes to rest in the passenger seat. There had been a shareholders’ meeting this afternoon. His father was still the same—even after delegating power, he was full of dissatisfaction, nitpicking at him both overtly and covertly, giving him a massive headache.

For some reason, even though Mu Yan’s head massage technique wasn’t particularly outstanding, ever since he had lain on his lap and been massaged, Shang Qiyue found himself desperately wishing Mu Yan was by his side whenever he was annoyed or tired.

Since Mu Yan’s injuries healed, he had returned to work almost immediately. Shang Qiyue also had his own work to handle, so the two hadn’t seen each other for nearly a week.

“You’re back?” Hearing the elevator, Mu Yan walked to the door early and took the overcoat Shang Qiyue had taken off.

“Off work this early?” Shang Qiyue asked. Mu Yan’s company often required overtime, and he usually wasn’t home by this hour. “Have you had dinner? Want to go out for a bite?”

“I ate at the company, but I can accompany you. If you’re tired and don’t want to go out, how about ordering takeout? I can massage your head for a while while you wait.”

“I want to eat what you cook,” Shang Qiyue said.

Mu Yan hesitated. “But Sir, it’s a bit late now. It’ll take me a while to cook. Are you hungry?”

Shang Qiyue shook his head and leaned in to kiss him. “No need. You’ve worked so hard today; I’ll just boil some noodles for myself.”

“How could that be?” Mu Yan was surprised. He could settle for anything himself, but how could he let Shang Qiyue eat plain noodles at his home? “I’ll make you some braised pork rib noodles; it’ll be quick.”

Shang Qiyue did not refuse.

Mu Yan quickly finished the noodles, poured the topping over them, and served them to Shang Qiyue. Shang Qiyue was indeed hungry; he showed his appreciation by finishing the bowl and even drinking a few sips of the broth.

For a cook, seeing their food finished like this provides a great sense of achievement.

Under the soft yellow light, Shang Qiyue sat opposite Mu Yan, talking casually about work matters. Mu Yan didn’t understand the intricacies of shareholders’ meetings, but he didn’t pretend to and offer empty comforts; he just listened quietly, which somehow made Shang Qiyue feel significantly better.

“By the way,” Shang Qiyue suddenly remembered the business he had come for. “I had someone arrange a job for your brother. It’s quite stable, and even after things end between us, it won’t affect his employment. But he might have guessed I arranged it and didn’t want to owe me, so he rejected it.”

“I personally feel his current job isn’t quite right for him. He’s a bit…” Shang Qiyue paused, choosing a polite way to put it. “He has a bit of trouble lowering his pride for that line of work. Office work is different; anyone can do it, there isn’t as much overtime, and it’s stable. He wouldn’t have to rely on commissions to survive. Give him a call and persuade him. He’s as stubborn as you. The HR at my friend’s company has called him twice; any more and it’ll start sounding like a pyramid scheme.”

Mu Yan was stunned, thinking back to the “reward” Shang Qiyue had casually mentioned the other day.

It was actually this.

Mu Yan certainly needed money, but many things cannot be bought with money alone. For example, a decent job for a brother who lacked a formal education. Mu Yan had always known his brother didn’t have an easy time earning money and wanted to persuade him to switch jobs, but he was just a recent graduate; how could he have the ability to introduce his brother to a stable and decent job?

“Thank you,” Mu Yan looked at Shang Qiyue, feeling incredibly grateful. “I really don’t know how to thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. It’s a small favor. Go make the call. If you keep thanking me, your brother will be asleep. I’ll find some time to arrange a job for Xiang Zhuo too. His credentials are better and he has certifications, so we can find something with a higher salary.”

For Shang Qiyue, this was a true “small favor”, just the effort of a phone call.

Mu Yan felt embarrassed to call his brother in front of Shang Qiyue, so he went into his own room to persuade him.

Lin Yi’s attitude remained the same; he didn’t want Mu Yan to stay with Shang Qiyue just because of the benefits he could bring to the family.

“I know he’s pursuing you, and I know it’s normal for him to be nice to you. But these are gifts based on the expectation that you’ll be with him in the future. Do you want to be with him? I don’t want you to owe him more and more until you feel forced to stay. My current job is fine; I can support myself. No job is easy; do you think sitting in an office is effortless?”

“But he is very good to me, he…” Details of their interactions flashed through Mu Yan’s mind. He spoke to his brother with half-truth and half-falseness. “He is very gentle, generous, and very handsome. He is… really quite good, Brother.”

Lin Yi’s tone was still hesitant. “But you.”

“I thought about it again,” Mu Yan said. “I actually like him. I want to try with him.”

“Just take the job,” Mu Yan said, acting spoiled with his brother in a rare drawn-out tone. “I broke up with Lu Chong; I can’t stay single forever. President Shang is so outstanding; if I find someone else myself, they might not even compare to him. What’s wrong with him arranging a job for his boyfriend’s brother? He’s a big boss; even if we break up later, is he really going to call his friend to fire you? He wouldn’t want to lose face in front of his friends like that.”

After a lot of soft persuasion and nagging, Lin Yi finally agreed. Before hanging up, he repeatedly emphasized: falling in love is fine, but Mu Yan must respect himself, put his own feelings first, and break up immediately if he feels unhappy.

Mu Yan agreed to everything, urged his brother to rest early, and reminded him to call HR back tomorrow.

The call disconnected with a soft beep.

Shang Qiyue pushed open the door and walked to the window where Mu Yan was standing. He picked him up by the base of his thighs, holding him like a child.

Mu Yan was about to ask how he knew the call was over when he remembered that an S-rank Alpha’s sense of smell and hearing far exceeded that of an ordinary person. Just because Mu Yan couldn’t hear Shang Qiyue’s calls from the living room didn’t mean Shang Qiyue couldn’t hear his from across the apartment. Even if Shang Qiyue hadn’t intended to eavesdrop, he couldn’t exactly cover his ears and force himself not to hear.

“President Shang, I’m sorry for what I said just now.”

Shang Qiyue remained silent. His warm palms pressed against Mu Yan’s legs and slender waist, holding him steadily as their breaths mingled.

“Baby, did you say you liked me on the phone?” Even though no one else was there, Shang Qiyue whispered into Mu Yan’s ear as if sharing a secret, his breath brushing against his face.

“Do you really like me, or were you just lying to coax him?”

Mu Yan’s waist had already gone soft from the kissing; being whispered to so suggestively made even his earlobes turn red. This level of intimacy felt overwhelming. They weren’t in bed, and there was no functional need for Shang Qiyue to coax him into opening his body.

“I like you.” The moment the words left Mu Yan’s mouth, his lips were pried open again by a kiss that was gentle yet impossible to refuse. “I really… like you.”

“Liar.” Shang Qiyue pressed a thumb against his lower back, a gesture that felt like a punishment, yet it was so intimate that even someone as slow as Mu Yan could tell he wasn’t actually angry. It felt, instead, like flirting.

“You liked your ex-boyfriend for so long; how could you stop liking him and start liking me so easily?”

Mu Yan froze, not knowing how to respond. Was answering according to Shang Qiyue’s lead… also wrong?

“It’s okay if you lie to me, baby,” Shang Qiyue said, kissing the tip of his nose. “Regardless of whether you like me right now, I like you very much. I’ve never treated anyone the way I treat you. I want you to be happy, and I want the people you care about to be happy too.”

“A few days ago, Lin Guojun was caught at a foot massage parlor. If he ended up with a criminal record, it would have affected you and your brother. I got him out and cleared his debts. I’ve hired a bodyguard to keep him under house arrest; his routine and meals will follow prison standards.”

“The best treatment for kidney failure is a transplant; I’ll keep an eye out for a donor as well.”

“Or would you prefer Lin Guojun to suffer more? My family has shares in a psychiatric hospital in the suburbs. We could arrange for daily shock therapy or something. It’s quite a miserable place for a sane person to stay.”

Seeing Mu Yan completely stunned, Shang Qiyue set him down and gently ruffled his hair. “Baby?”

Mu Yan snapped out of it. “No, there’s no need for that. Let’s just keep things as they are.”

“Are you happy?”

Mu Yan was still holding onto his neck. Hearing the question, he reached up slightly and kissed Shang Qiyue’s lips.

“I am happy.” Mu Yan felt his nose tingle, and his vision grew a bit blurry. “I’m happy. Thank you, Sir.”

“Is this my reward?” Shang Qiyue asked. “Can I ask for something else?”

Even if you didn’t do these things for me, you could have anything you wanted from me, Mu Yan thought.

Not to mention the cleared gambling debts, the stable job for his brother, and the arranged transplant for his mother. These were things he hadn’t even dared to dream of before. The mountain that had weighed on his shoulders for years had suddenly crumbled; Mu Yan felt momentarily lightheaded.

Thinking the man wanted to have sex, Mu Yan turned to pull the curtains shut, but Shang Qiyue gently caught his hand.

The sky was pitch black, and outside the window, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

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