The Beta Wife Claimed by Competing Alphas - Chapter 53

After every time they finished, Shang Qiyue was often generous with his concern and warmth.

He held Mu Yan while blow-drying his hair and even squeezed the toothpaste onto the brush before handing it to him.

Shang Qiyue had picked out the clothes; both of them were wearing the matching couple pajamas he had bought at the mall that day. Mu Yan stared at their reflections in the mirror, slightly dazed.

Seeing him lost in thought, Shang Qiyue patted his head. “Sleepy? Hurry up and finish washing so we can go to bed. You don’t have work tomorrow; you can sleep in.”

Following Mu Yan’s gaze, he saw the two of them in the mirror wearing the matching pajamas. He found them exceptionally well-matched and pleasing to the eye.

“What are you thinking about? Aren’t we a couple? I’m a few years older than you, and you’ve just started working. It’s only natural for a boyfriend to give you a little allowance every month.”

Mu Yan looked up at him, pulling slightly on Shang Qiyue’s neck to bring him lower, then gave him a gentle peck on the lips.

This version of Mu Yan felt somewhat foreign to Shang Qiyue—a surprise, to be sure.

Shang Qiyue held his waist and lifted him up slightly. “Can you reach a kiss this way?”

They had both finished washing up. Shang Qiyue lifted him even higher, carrying him all the way back to the bedroom and lying down to snuggle with him.

When he was in a good mood, Shang Qiyue truly loved being close to someone. Even right after a bath, his body felt warm and cozy.

Though it might be an unkind comparison, it always reminded Mu Yan of the large Golden Retriever owned by a couple he used to pass when coming home late from work.

But people weren’t as pure as animals. A puppy was always lively and enthusiastic, whereas Shang Qiyue was temperamental.

When he was good to you, he’d want to pluck the stars from the sky for you. Yet, he would also say shockingly cruel things when Mu Yan least expected it.

Mu Yan knew Shang Qiyue had no reason to go out of his way to make him miserable; those accidentally spoken words were his true thoughts.

Sometimes, he almost wished Shang Qiyue wouldn’t show this warmth and tenderness. If the man didn’t coax him, he could keep his heart clean and separate.

Instead, as it was now, he was given hope from time to time, making him believe he could spend this year peacefully and without much suffering.

There isn’t a year left, Mu Yan thought. Only about ten months.

Days with something to look forward to always held a bit of hope. Mu Yan thought for a moment; he planned to exchange that check for cash tomorrow and take his mother and brother for that old duck stew they had missed out on last time.

Now that he had this extra 100,000, he felt much more confident about ordering a few extra dishes.

Thinking of Mu Juanhua, he felt that the grievances he suffered from Shang Qiyue really didn’t amount to much.

President Shang… he just had a bit of a bad temper, but he had truly helped pay off the 150,000, moved his mother to a high-end ward, and even said he would keep an eye out for a transplant.

No matter how hard or difficult his own life was, how could it compare to the suffering of his sick mother?

When Mu Juanhua had her first dialysis, Mu Yan was still in high school. He had skipped class to accompany her, only to be scolded by her and Lin Yi.

A single dialysis session took four hours. Lying there for a long time without being able to move a muscle was agonizing every second. Mu Juanhua’s face would turn pale bit by bit. Mu Yan was young then and hadn’t learned to hide his emotions in front of her; holding her hand, he was always the first to cry.

It seemed Mu Juanhua had never had a good day in her life. She met the wrong person and married Lin Yi’s father, only to be a victim of domestic violence. After finally getting a divorce, she met the seemingly honest and timid Lin Guojun, who turned out to be a gambler—and she had Mu Yan, a little “oil bottle” of a tag-along.

She was capable and hardworking; even with just one egg, she could make Mu Yan delicious brown sugar eggs or stir-fried eggs. After a textile factory opened in the village, she was the most skilled worker there, only a step away from being promoted to supervisor.

She told Mu Yan and Lin Yi that once she became a supervisor, she would take them to the city for burgers. Lin Yi said they weren’t anything special; he’d seen others eat them—just two pieces of bread with a piece of meat—and said it wasn’t as good as eating at home.

Mu Yan knew his brother didn’t want to pressure their mother. The factory manager’s sister-in-law and the village chief’s wife were also at the factory; if she couldn’t win the promotion, their mother would feel sorry for them.

Subconsciously, however, he still swallowed his saliva.

But the heavens showed no fairness to his mother. Before the announcement of the new supervisor was made, the textile factory went bankrupt.

So, she went to work as a helper in a restaurant. The small restaurant provided food and housing, and after working there for three years, she saved some money. She discussed it with her two sons and wanted to open a small restaurant of her own. She chose a location near the university town in City A, saying that once Mu Yan went to college, he could still eat her cooking frequently.

When everything was prepared, she was struck with that illness.

Whenever he thought of her, Mu Yan felt that a few unkind words from Shang Qiyue were really nothing at all.

Dignity could be traded for money; dignity could be traded for his mother’s health.

It was a very cheap bargain. There were surely countless people in the world willing to make such an exchange, but they weren’t as lucky as Mu Yan; they didn’t have the opportunity.

What did he have to be dissatisfied with? Mu Yan closed his eyes, thinking of the 100,000 yuan and the old duck stew he would take his mother to eat tomorrow. His mood relaxed considerably.

Fatigue and sleepiness finally enveloped him.

Beside him, Shang Qiyue’s breathing was steady, as if he had already fallen asleep. Mu Yan glanced at him, and a sudden thought chased all his sleepiness away.

He carefully turned over, wanting to go to sleep and push those thoughts from his mind.

It wasn’t his place to ask.

He already roughly knew how to please Shang Qiyue; there was no need to overstep.

“Can’t sleep?”

Mu Yan didn’t know when Shang Qiyue had woken up, or if he had been awakened by Mu Yan turning over.

In the pitch black, Shang Qiyue’s sudden voice made Mu Yan instinctively flinch. Fortunately, Shang Qiyue didn’t seem to have any “wake-up temper”; he simply pressed Mu Yan closer into his arms. “Don’t be afraid. Did I startle you?”

Mu Yan shook his head. “No, no.”

“Then why can’t you sleep? Still sad? Because of Lu Chong?”

“No.” Mu Yan denied it instinctively, his tone so decisive that even Shang Qiyue didn’t think he was lying.

Shang Qiyue was half-awake himself and was actually a bit confused.

There were many reasons for being unable to sleep; sometimes you just can’t, even if your mind is blank. Shang Qiyue felt he was being meddlesome as soon as he asked and didn’t expect Mu Yan to reply.

But Mu Yan had denied it so clearly and instinctively. That meant he must have something else on his mind.

“Then why can’t you sleep?” Shang Qiyue patted him while holding him. “Did something happen? Tell me; I’ll help you. Something you think is a big deal might be nothing to me at all.”

Mu Yan remained buried in his chest, hesitating for a long time.

Perhaps Shang Qiyue had already stopped caring about it.

But regardless, that incident was because of him after all.

Shang Qiyue was quite patient, stroking the top of his head and waiting quietly.

“I’m… afraid you’ll be unhappy. If you don’t want to deal with me, just pretend I’m talking in my sleep.”

Shang Qiyue thought to himself that as long as it wasn’t about Lu Chong, what could make him unhappy? He kissed Mu Yan’s forehead and agreed.

“About what Lu Chong said today… I want to apologize to you.” Mu Yan lowered his head, his voice becoming even smaller. “Though I have no standing to apologize for him, you were insulted like that because of me after all…”

Mu Yan’s voice grew lower and lower until it was almost inaudible. Shang Qiyue, already groggy, was left utterly bewildered.

“Why are you being so serious? I treat everything Lu Chong says as hot air. Which part? Calling me a third party?”

Mu Yan froze. “That, and the other part. I’m sorry, Sir, it’s all because of me.”

After a moment, Shang Qiyue finally realized what he meant. He somewhat awkwardly pressed Mu Yan’s head into his chest, not letting Mu Yan see his eyes.

What Mu Yan was very concerned about must be the part where Lu Chong said he was “born but not raised by a mother.”

“That? Don’t take it to heart. There’s nothing I can’t tell you. My relationship with my mother isn’t great, so let him say what he wants. It’s not a secret; everyone in the circle knows more or less, even Lu Chong.”

“When I was born, they found a congenital problem with my glands. The doctor said there was a high probability I’d have Pheromone Disorder after differentiating. This illness is exactly what you’ve seen—I have an extreme repulsion to the pheromones of the opposite sex. If it’s not cured, there’s no way to have offspring. There are very few cases on the market; those who are cured just get better mysteriously on their own, and those who aren’t never get better in their lifetime.”

Shang Qiyue paused, his tone very ordinary. “My parents were… quite disappointed in me. After they got pregnant with a second child, they sent me abroad… But I understand now. They were a family alliance marriage to begin with and wanted a healthy heir. It’s quite normal.”

Mu Yan was a bit dazed, but pressed into the man’s chest, he couldn’t see Shang Qiyue’s expression. “Sir… and then?”

Unable to date the opposite sex, with susceptibility periods and heat cycles different from other Alphas and Omegas. In Mu Yan’s view, this didn’t seem like a major impact on life. Besides, a child of five or six was so small; knowing he would have an illness in the future meant he was clearly the most pitiable one.

Mu Yan naturally couldn’t understand why Shang Qiyue’s parents would treat him like that.

“She… passed away due to complications in childbirth.” Shang Qiyue smiled. His tone was casual, as if telling someone else’s story. “My father thought it was bad luck and simply acted as if I didn’t exist. But it’s actually quite good; because of the pressure from my grandparents’ side, he didn’t dare marry again. My friends all have families that manage them quite strictly; only I am relatively free.”

Mu Yan’s nose felt a bit stingy. For a moment, he didn’t know how to comfort him and couldn’t help but lean closer into his embrace, holding him even tighter.

“Does Baby feel bad for me?” Shang Qiyue looked down at him, a trace of a smile in his eyes.

“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s enough that you feel bad for me now.”

“Heaven sending you to my side must be to compensate me.”

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