Chapter 3
Su Jin did not answer.
He was wheeled into the ward, and Sheng Baiyan followed him the whole way.
I don't know what he said to the doctor, but the doctor actually let him in.
"If you really hate me, I promise I won't show up again."
Sheng Baiyan stood swaying precariously by the bed; when he spoke, he seemed to be a human figure sculpted from ashes.
"Su Jin, I'll only ask this once."
Do you hate me that much?
Perhaps physical wounds make a person exceptionally vulnerable. For the first time, Su Jin put aside the claws of pride and blinked.
Pain melted like thin ice, sliding down her cheeks, and Su Jin's voice was hoarse.
"You're the one who hates me, so why are you saying this now?"
Sheng Baiyan's pupils appeared as if stung by a bee, with a few spots of scarlet gradually emerging.
He suddenly squatted down and grabbed the other person's hand. "Mine?"
Su Jin turned her face to the side, but did not break free.
"When you dug out the rose knot."
Sheng Baiyan's voice was low and hoarse, like the sound of wind muffled inside a poplar tree.
"It felt like someone had cut open the back of my neck and poured boiling oil into it."
He closed his eyes briefly, pressing his forehead against Su Jin's hand. "Do you understand? Even if you ripped my heart out, it wouldn't be this bad."
He will be in pain.
Like withered grass frozen under ice, suddenly revived by the spring breeze.
Su Jin's heart pounded uncontrollably.
Only an Alpha who falls in love with an Omega will experience excruciating pain when their genitals are removed.
No, no.
Su Jin took a deep breath, trying to feel the pain from the wound on her neck, and turned her face away.
"You can leave now."
The image of Sheng Baiyan gently kissing Su Yiran on the big screen felt like a lump in his throat.
His pride was like a dam, holding back all his emotions.
"I can't—um."
Caught off guard, Sheng Baiyan braced his hand on the pillow, and then Su Jin felt a cool touch on her lips.
Sunlight streamed through the swaying branches and leaves into the room, brushing against the man's profile, like warm jade emitting smoke.
The perfume bottle of memories shattered, and he was momentarily at a loss, failing to push him away.
"Su Jin".
Sheng Baiyan released him, his gaze behind his silver-rimmed glasses focused, like a mirror reflecting only the moon in his heart.
He gently cupped Su Jin's face in his hands, his voice barely audible, "I like you very much."
“I like it very much,” the man said in a low, hoarse voice, “so much so that I get angry and jealous, and I lose my mind.”
Her heart raced like a startled deer, relentlessly pursued by the arrows of the man's gaze.
Su Jin turned her head away, fearing that her will might falter.
"Actually, I already knew your identity the day I took you to bid on the ring."
Sheng Baiyan held his hand, his voice like ripples spreading across water.
Countless times, I've hoped you would confess, but you haven't.
“I also have cousins, and the internal struggles within the Sheng family are extremely fierce. I don’t know why you’re staying by my side.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Power, money, or some other conspiracy?"
"For money."
Su Jin's eyelashes fluttered, and tears fell. He covered his eyes with his hands.
"I have a younger sister who has leukemia. I have no other choice, I really have no other way."
When Sheng Baiyan uttered hurtful words, he realized the real reason he had been running away.
As a man, he started with deception, aimed for money, and sold his emotions and body, even for his sister's sake; he despised himself.
Moreover, it's Sheng Baiyan.
That presence, like a carving knife, sculpted the bloody, raw expectations in his heart during his youth.
"sorry."
Their words overlapped, and they spoke in unison.
At this moment, the window curtains were lifted by the wind, and the sunlight, like dandelion seeds, scattered golden down throughout the room.
"The engagement is a family matter, and I will handle it."
Sheng Baiyan gently stroked Su Jin's face, his pupils like an ice lake frozen with fireworks, burning intensely beneath the frost and snow, "Give me another chance, okay?"
The other person lightly touched his lips again, the aroma of absinthe filling the air.
Her heart pounded like a fish returning to the sea from Heze, and Su Jin did not push the other person away.
——
Sheng Baiyan took Su Jin back to his villa in the suburbs of Beijing. He deliberately took leave from his company to take care of her personally.
Washing labels is a procedure that's neither too big nor too small. It requires giving up oil, spicy food, and seafood, but Su Jin also needs to supplement her nutrition.
Inside the futuristic villa, a man wearing a black apron was studying a recipe as if he were looking at an economic analysis report.
He pushed up his glasses, his brow furrowed slightly. He had ruined two pots, but finally managed to make a bowl of soup.
The man's hands, usually used for signing contracts, were now used to hold a bowl of soup and bring it to Su Jin.
Through the misty fog, Sheng Baiyan pulled him into his arms.
His breath brushed against her neck, and the subtle pain made Su Jin stiffen slightly, so Sheng Baiyan moved away from her.
"Drink this," the man said softly, bringing the spoon to his lips. "Try it."
Su Jin turned her head to look at Sheng Baiyan. The light in his eyes resembled a crystal sculpture kneeling below the city, full of gentle submission.
He finally opened his lips and did not refuse.
——
As the autumn night grew cool, Su Jin suddenly woke up in the middle of the night.
He felt someone gently envelop him from behind; the absinthe was incredibly strong, and the smell alone was intoxicating.
This intense, fermenting information saturation indicates that the Alpha has entered a vulnerable period.
Su Jin could feel Sheng Baiyan's body temperature, like a cool little snake slowly crawling up her spine through the fabric, wanting to wrap itself tightly around her.
"What do I need to do for you to go back to the way you were before?"
The man was close to him, breathing rapidly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging as he held him, yet his movements were gentle.
No rejection, no feedback, no response.
Su Jin still harbored resentment. Although the two seemed to get along well, he had built an invisible wall around Sheng Baiyan, keeping him out.
He was just pretending to be asleep, but in his hazy state, he seemed to feel someone kissing his eyes.
Once everything had calmed down, he opened his eyes and looked out the window at the clear, bright light.
He stayed for a while, then got up to get a water glass, only to see a faint light coming from the storage room.
Su Jin frowned slightly, walked over carefully, and gently pushed open the door.
Sheng Baiyan leaned against the wall.
The usually composed and refined man unbuttoned his collar, revealing beads of sweat on his high, straight nose, and suddenly exuded an aggressive aura.
The man held Su Jin's clothes, sniffed them carefully, and then placed the hands that had once signed documents and played the piano in an unspeakable place.
The sparse leaves of the paulownia tree sway in the wind, while starlight, like boneless snakes, burrows into the window frame and coils around the heart.
Sheng Baiyan closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and murmured softly, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, "Su Jin..."
Su Jin's face flushed instantly. He closed the door, his heart pounding wildly, and he practically fled in panic.
——
The next day, Su Jin didn't know how to face Sheng Baiyan. He received an invitation to a classmate's wedding and went immediately.
Unexpectedly, after taking his seat, he found himself at the same table as Yan Ke, a classmate from university with whom he had a very poor relationship.
At that time, Su Jin was more outstanding than him and was superior to him in every way.
Because of their excellent grades in their freshman year, both of them participated in the mathematical modeling competition, and a doctoral supervisor from the university guided them on the specific algorithms.
Su Jin's algorithm was always more efficient and faster than his, which earned him praise from his doctoral supervisor.
Yan Ke was indignant, so he started spreading rumors that his doctoral supervisor was biased, only teaching Su Jin and not him, and that he had been treated unfairly. This sparked a small-scale discussion on the school forum.
However, Su Jin was focused on her work every day and didn't pay attention to this matter.
There was only one spot available in the preliminary round. The doctoral supervisor was ill, so Su Jin designed a new mathematical model to show to her professor. However, the computer broke down the very next day after she finished it.
While he was fixing the computer, Yan Ke personally visited his mentor with the algorithm.
When the mentor replied and confirmed that Yan Ke was the one who participated in the preliminary round, Su Jin realized that Yan Ke had stolen his algorithm!
However, his computer broke down and the hard drive was wiped clean, leaving him with no evidence to prove that he had designed the algorithm earlier.
Winning a data modeling competition can earn you extra points. With Su Jin's grades, she can not only be recommended for postgraduate studies, but also receive a high scholarship.
When Yan Ke saw Su Jin, his cat-like eyes sparkled with a smile. "Su Jin, aren't you going to congratulate me?"
Su Jin looked at him, her anger like boiling oil, silently tormenting his internal organs.
The algorithm will first be showcased at the school-wide innovation competition—Yan Ke had prepared 20,000 training data points beforehand, and there were no problems.
However, for this competition, the mentor prepared 60,000 [items/items].
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Yan Ke's algorithm terminated abnormally after processing 30,000 data points.
No matter how he tried to debug it, it wouldn't work.
On the stage under the intense spotlight, under the gaze of the entire school, Yan Ke was drenched in sweat, his clothes clinging to his back. He had spent half an hour trying to solve the problem, but to no avail.
"This algorithm cannot pass all data tests."
Su Jin took the microphone and slowly walked onto the stage. His voice was calm and steady. "Because this algorithm is incomplete."
The entire audience erupted in uproar.
In front of everyone, he glanced at Yan Ke, walked to the computer and typed for a while—in just five minutes, the simulation passed smoothly.
The tutor walked up to him, his voice tinged with excitement, "How could you solve this problem in such a short time?"
“Because this is the algorithm I designed,” Su Jin smiled gently. “Only I know how to fix it.”
Yan Ke's face turned pale and then flushed, and he was sweating profusely.
Su Jin provided his design ideas, and after analysis, the mentor and competition judges basically confirmed that the algorithm did indeed belong to him.
Yan Ke was severely punished for plagiarizing other people's algorithms. He was not only unable to be recommended for postgraduate studies, but he also couldn't get his degree certificate, becoming a laughing stock of the whole school.
From that moment on, the two became bitter enemies.
Yan Ke spread many rumors, saying that Su Jin had an improper relationship with her mentor and that the mentor had set a trap to ruin his reputation.
At first, everyone just laughed it off, but when a rumor is repeated a hundred times, some people will always believe it.
Moreover, Yan Ke deliberately took some photos from ambiguous angles, making the normal scene of the mentor instructing Su Jin look like the two were close together.
Gossip always spreads like wildfire. Even though the mentor and Su Jin tried their best to deny it, some people still looked at the two of them with strange eyes.
It even caused his supervisor's wife to cause a scene at the school several times.
Su Jin won first prize. As long as his grades don't drop, the extra points would be enough for him to be recommended for postgraduate studies. However, almost no professors on campus are willing to accept him.
His sister's illness was the final straw that broke the camel's back.
Su Jin ultimately chose to drop out of school.
Despite having a clear conscience, Su Jin is constantly scrutinized by others with strange eyes. Although she says she doesn't care, she has refused to attend class reunions for several years.
Yan Keyi had also pursued Sheng Baiyan. Later, when the man came to the school again, Yan Keyi struck up a conversation with him, but Sheng Baiyan's question, "Who are you?" made him lose face.
That's why, even though Su Jin had Sheng Baiyan's contact information, she didn't dare to contact him for many years.
And of all times, I ran into him here.
Yan Ke did quite well later on; although he didn't have a degree certificate, he was admitted to a prestigious university for graduate studies.
He was also an Omega, but after graduating, he didn't work. Instead, he married an Alpha from a wealthy family and became a manager in the family business.
"The car that came to deliver you today is a Maserati, right?"
Some classmates genuinely envied Yan Ke, praising her repeatedly, "Yan Ke is so lucky. She has a good husband and a good job. Her good fortune is something we can only envy."
Yan Ke smiled, the two-carat ring on his finger sparkling. He held the wine, but turned to Su Jin.
"How's our class's heartthrob and top student doing?" he smiled. "I heard you started your own company and became the CEO. You're a winner in life, aren't you?"
Su Jin's pain stemmed from his failed business venture. He glanced at Yan Ke but remained silent.
A classmate nearby couldn't stand it anymore and whispered to Yan Ke, "Didn't Su Jin's company go bankrupt during the economic crisis a couple of years ago? Why are you bringing up something you don't want to talk about..."
"Oh dear, look at my brain. Starting a business is all about high risk and high reward."
Yan Ke sighed deeply, "Unlike me, my life is too mundane. Sitting in an office every day is meaningless. My income of a million or so is just a drop in the ocean compared to someone who has started their own business."
Su Jin put down the cup, smiled slightly, and said nothing.
"Is Su Jin still single?"
Yan Ke suddenly turned on his phone and showed him the photo.
“This is my husband’s uncle. Although he has been married before, he is a decent person.”
He was an Alpha in his forties, with a face full of fat and eyes that had been worn down by life, giving him a greasy and frivolous look.
Su Jin looked at Yan Ke, her chest filled with anger at being offended.
"Don't look at me like that," Yan Ke said with a smile. "I only introduced him to you because you're a good friend."
"Su Jin, if you could find someone better, why wait until now?"
He was about to speak when he heard a melodious male voice.
"I'm late."
Sheng Baiyan wore silver-rimmed glasses and a silver-gray suit, his straight lines as sharp as the corners of a gilded poetry book.
He smiled, like a figure in an antique painting, and the light carefully highlighted his elegant and graceful features.
"I'm about to pursue Su Jin."
He pushed up his glasses, his gaze sharpening slightly. "I'd like to see who this guy is who's trying to steal my man."
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