The Popular/Charismatic Beta Always Thinks They Are Universally Disliked - Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Stomach-A-Grade Alpha – Li Zan Drank a Few Extra Glasses, Emerging from the Room…

Li Zan had indulged in a few extra drinks. Emerging from the private room, he was in a state of tipsy warmth. Recalling his father’s evaluation of Gu Yansheng, he leaned against the railing of the balcony at the end of the corridor, somewhat unenthusiastically, attempting to clear his muddled head with the night breeze.

He stood on the balcony for a while, his gaze blurred as he looked down at the vast parking lot below the high-rise. He tried to identify his own vehicle among a variety of limited-edition luxury cars, but after counting for a while, he found it boring. He lowered his head to fiddle with the bead bracelet and wristwatch on his wrist.

In this slightly intoxicated state, he still remembered to feel the scent gland patch on the back of his neck, confirming that his gland was not exposed.

He let out a long sigh carrying the astringency of red wine. Li Zan irritably thought of Shi Xuning, who was always revolving around him lately.

Shi Xuning did not like him.

He was absolutely certain of this.

The Omega’s gaze toward him was always gentle and amiable, and his attitude was always thoughtful and considerate. He even subtly mediated and spoke highly of him in front of senior lawyers like Lawyer Xie, dedicating himself to repairing the tense and contradictory relationship between Li Zan and his father.

This included a lot of work that should have belonged to Li Zan, which Shi Xuning took on with a few interns.

In front of Shi Xuning, Li Zan was purely a lazy, philandering, and heartless second-generation rake. Although he genuinely projected this image, Shi Xuning’s unwavering flattery and closeness were seen by others as deeply touching and profoundly devoted.

But, Shi Xuning genuinely did not like him.

The perfectly timed thoughtfulness, the constant care and attention, the persistent pursuit and admiration… none of it could hide the cold fact. The catalyst for Li Zan realizing this was very simple: every time Shi Xuning approached him, there was a momentary, uncontrollable tremor of resistance.

A purely physiological rejection, in the eyes of an Alpha like Li Zan, who was no stranger to physical intimacy, was as clear as daylight.

If an Omega truly likes an Alpha, how could they be so resistant to the other’s proximity and touch?

He frowned and watched the night view for a while, clicking his tongue at Shi Xuning’s twisted duplicity.

Shi Xuning’s extremely repressed urge to keep his distance made Li Zan unwilling to play hard-to-get with him. While he enjoyed the chase, he would never pursue a colleague. A messy office romance would only further lower Lawyer Li’s expectations of him.

Of course, if the quality of the office romance was miraculously high, Li Zan wouldn’t mind breaking his precarious principles. He recalled Wen Zhiyi, who was being secretly observed by Gu Yansheng, his impression finally settling on that angelic face.

Good looking, clean background, but a bad temper.

Li Zan inwardly sneered. He casually scrolled through his chat history with Wen Zhiyi. Looking at the glaring red exclamation mark on the screen, he slowly sent another friend request.

The allure of top-tier looks was that great. For any other Beta, Li Zan would never humble himself, time and again lowering his stance to coax them.

Quite the temper.

I wonder who spoiled him.

Wen Zhiyi had always been cold and casual in front of Li Zan, not wasting much breath arguing with him, but his entire being exuded an intense scrutiny and disdain. Sometimes, just watching Wen Zhiyi raise an eyebrow and smile made the latter feel despised invisibly.

The almost frozen, unmoving smile, the half-smile, half-cold look in his eyes… Li Zan closed his eyes, conjuring an extremely clear and vivid image in his mind.

Too cold to ignore, yet also sweet, like flowing with milk, honey, fine wine, and clear water.

He had to admit that even a bad-tempered scumbag like himself would probably tolerate the attitude that came with that face.

Thinking this, Li Zan entered the restroom in the corridor, intending to splash some water on his face to sober up before returning to the private room.

He entered the restroom designated for male Alphas. Under the influence of alcohol, he could barely see his own reflection in the mirror.

Can’t drink this much anymore, he sighed vaguely, it’s easy for things to go wrong.

In a sense, Li Zan’s intuition was prophetic, because the next second, he saw Shi Xuning walk straight into the restroom. Before he could wonder if the other party had taken a wrong turn, he had to weakly grab onto the cool marble sink due to his inability to stand firm.

The delicate-looking Omega rushed forward anxiously to help him but could only let him lean against the wall, breathing heavily, because he lacked the strength. In this extremely close proximity, Li Zan uncomfortably tugged at the collar of his shirt, feeling the stagnant air was stiflingly hot.

Shi Xuning quietly stared at all his reactions, then slowly reached out a hand and waved it a few times in front of his eyes. Seeing Li Zan’s difficulty focusing, he confirmed that the Alpha was not very sober.

Like a snake slowly shedding its skin, the gentle expression on the Omega’s face peeled away bit by bit until it became completely calm and cold.

He stared at Li Zan’s face, gently and slowly frowning. Visible disgust and contempt surged out like a tide. Then, he reached for the back of his own neck and unhesitatingly tore off his scent gland patch. The sweet, floral scent of the Omega instantly filled the space, intimately wrapping around Li Zan like an airtight, deep spiderweb.

Shi Xuning gently tucked the patch into Li Zan’s slowly curling fist, then bent down and knelt beside him, placing his neck, radiating strong pheromones, right in front of Li Zan, waiting for the Alpha to inject pheromones into his scent gland with his canine teeth.

He tightly clenched his fists, maintaining an expressionless face, using every ounce of strength in his body to suppress the urge to vomit violently. He gently reassured himself that he only needed to endure for a minute. After a minute, the Alpha’s pheromones would enter his body. All he needed to do was play the part of the perfect victim, and with Gu Yansheng’s help, he could extract what he wanted from Lawyer Li.

This was a better method of climbing the ladder than marriage.

He could almost feel Li Zan’s cold canine teeth.

Shi Xuning’s pupils burst with streaks of red, and the bluish-purple veins on the side of his neck pulsed violently, making him fear he would vomit out his heart the next second.

But this was actually Shi Xuning’s delusion. To safely pass a blood test afterward, the drug slipped into Li Zan’s wine glass was weak, only causing brief disorientation. Even with the potent flush of the Omega’s strong pheromones, Li Zan’s current reaction was merely dilated pupils, a racing heart, and rapid breathing, still a hair’s breadth away from completely losing consciousness.

It did not entirely match the state of an Alpha being induced into rut by Omega pheromones.

Shi Xuning, already at his limit, let out a light laugh, his veins straining as he tremblingly tore off Li Zan’s patch. Then, with a pale face, he pressed it against the back of the Alpha’s neck, taking a deep breath, trying to use the Alpha’s pheromones to stimulate himself.

As soon as the warm flesh touched, Shi Xuning’s stomach churned violently. His cold-sweat-drenched nose gently pressed against the slightly raised scent gland on the back of the other’s neck.

He didn’t realize that Li Zan’s pheromone was actually pheromone perfume.

This was normal, as Omegas and Alphas generally wouldn’t need to use such a product.

Shi Xuning tremblingly messed up his hair, forcefully tore open a few buttons on his collar, and controlled his facial muscles to display an expression of extreme terror.

He pulled a small pill from his suit pants pocket, crushed it forcefully, and slipped it into Li Zan’s mouth. This microdose of inducing agent would be perfectly masked by the Omega pheromones ingested by the other party.

Li Zan slowly opened his eyes, his breathing accelerating again, heavy, like a drowning person struggling to break the surface. In a heat that threatened to burn him completely, he saw the vulnerable Omega curled up beside him.

He abruptly grabbed Shi Xuning’s arm.

…

Gu Yansheng leaned slightly and pressed down on the microphone in Wen Zhiyi’s hand, looking gently at the surrounding lawyers who were clamoring, but his voice cooled down little by little: “If you’ve had too much to drink, go out and walk around to sober up.”

He sat down next to Wen Zhiyi, staring gently at Wen Zhiyi, whose eyes were moist from a bit of sweat. He chuckled softly and said: “Have you been drinking? If you’re sleepy, hold on a moment. I’ll take you to see something interesting soon.”

Something interesting?

Wen Zhiyi slowly blinked. Gu Yansheng, reflected in his pupils, was handsome and elegant, seemingly two completely different people from five years ago, yet when he harbored malice, he exuded a familiar kind of wickedness that Wen Zhiyi recognized instantly.

No matter how bad the thing hidden in his heart, nineteen-year-old Gu Yansheng acted as calm and composed as if he were simply eating or drinking.

“Do you dislike Li Zan?” Gu Yansheng whispered close to little Wen’s ear, intimately and gently. “For someone who is so competitive and concerned about appearances, wouldn’t it be amusing once he loses face in public?”

Almost simultaneously, Wen Zhiyi heard an extremely tragic scream. He instinctively looked toward the door of the private room. It turned out to be the lawyer who had gone out for air, rushing in with a strange, panicked expression, completely disregarding his image, stammering for Lawyer Li to come out and take a look.

This reaction naturally piqued everyone’s curiosity. Not only Lawyer Li, whose brow was twitching violently, but everyone present stood up and left the private room.

Even the hallway was filled with mixed Alpha and Omega pheromones, tangled like inseparable strands of hair. They could even hear the sound of the Omega sobbing from the restroom.

Wen Zhiyi’s face slowly darkened. With this level of pheromone concentration, even he, a Beta, could smell it. Most likely, a vicious assault on an Omega had occurred.

He frowned and looked at the grim-faced Lawyer Li, already guessing who the main character of this incident was.

Lawyer Li showed no hesitation, urgently walking into the male Alpha restroom first. Gu Yansheng, as his favored junior, naturally felt obliged to offer assistance. The others exchanged glances for a moment, then also trickled into the restroom. Fortunately, the commercial KTV’s restrooms were also elegantly spacious.

What appeared before them was Li Zan, slumped on the floor, attempting to forcefully mark Shi Xuning.

His face was flushed, his eyes unfocused. He aggressively restrained the trembling Omega in his arms, burying half his face in the other’s neck, persistently attempting to gnaw at that fragile, thin little scent gland. The Alpha’s instinct caused him to completely lose his mind, unable to think of anything but marking this Omega.

But, he was only teasing Shi Xuning’s neck with his canine teeth.

Everyone saw clearly that Li Zan’s canine teeth had not become long and sharp to enter the marking state under these circumstances.

They then realized that the Alpha pheromones, which should have been overwhelmingly intense, were surprisingly thin and weak, like low-concentration wine watered down by an unscrupulous merchant.

He could do nothing but get his saliva all over Shi Xuning’s neck.

!

The second-generation lawyer, who usually boasted of seducing countless Omegas, was actually a Stomach-A-Grade Alpha (a euphemism for a weak Alpha who can’t fully mark)!

The expressions of the surrounding lawyers and interns became incredibly complex. After exchanging glances, they used every bit of their strength to suppress the urge to burst into laughter. Looking back at Lawyer Li, whose face was changing expressions like a fruit stall, they decided it was more important to maintain their professional careers.

Wen Zhiyi was greatly shocked. He thought that if Li Zan was indeed a “Stomach-A,” then at least Shi Xuning wasn’t forcefully marked, which was a blessing.

He looked at Gu Yansheng as if sensing something, seeing a deep, flowing gentle smile in the other’s eyes. In those deep, dark eyes, there was no surprise whatsoever.