MOFB Chapter 64

Jiang Heng didn’t expect Xie An to be so straightforward. He thought Xie An would stall him a bit longer, deceive him for a while.

Actually, he had somewhat anticipated this. Jiang Jin’s feelings for Xie An were much deeper than for himself. Since he had found out and told him, naturally, he would also tell Xie An what he had discovered. Seeing Jiang Heng’s suddenly softened expression, Shen Huaizhi glanced at him and gently squeezed his instep.

Jiang Heng instinctively pulled his foot back due to this action, but still kept it on Shen Huaizhi’s thigh. After a moment, he replied to Xie An without hiding anything, “Yes, I know.”

On the other end, Xie An’s breathing seemed to get heavier. Jiang Heng wondered if she would feel a bit of regret now that the truth was out or if she would become furious out of shame.

Jiang Heng patiently waited for a while, recalling how Xie An used to call to check on him. Back then, did she genuinely care about him, or was she just concerned about his health?

Xie An didn’t stay silent for long. She just adjusted her emotions and soon asked softly, “Can we talk face to face?”

Jiang Heng unconsciously applied more pressure with the foot resting on Shen Huaizhi’s thigh, causing Shen Huaizhi’s expression to change slightly as he reached out to hold Jiang Heng’s ankle.

Jiang Heng’s ankle was very slender, with the ankle bone protruding.

Shen Huaizhi then pressed on his ankle bone a few times, seemingly with a bit of a soothing touch.

This time, Jiang Heng didn’t pull away, nor did he engage in a power struggle with Shen Huaizhi. He remained silent for a while before responding to Xie An, “Okay.”

—

Compared to their last meeting before leaving home, Xie An had lost a bit more weight and looked much more haggard.

However, she didn’t appear unkempt. On the contrary, she seemed meticulously groomed. Xie An was inherently a very graceful person. Even just sitting there, she gave off the impression of being highly knowledgeable.

When Jiang Heng returned, Xie An was in the kitchen making tea.

The aroma and bitterness of the tea leaves filled the entire room, causing Jiang Heng to pause in his steps.

Outside the door, Shen Huaizhi smiled at him, signaling for him to go inside while he would stand guard outside.

After all, in a rental apartment like this, the soundproofing wasn’t very good. If anything happened, Shen Huaizhi would be able to hear it. Nonetheless, he trusted Jiang Heng to handle things well.

He hoped Xie An wouldn’t give him the chance to intervene.

From the moment Jiang Heng entered, Xie An noticed him. However, she didn’t rush to say anything to him. Since Jiang Heng already knew, she carefully thought things over and felt less anxious than before.

Jiang Jin didn’t understand her, which is why he betrayed her. Jiang Heng was different; Jiang Heng was her only family. They shared the same bloodline, and Jiang Heng would surely understand and support her.

Soon, Xie An finished brewing the tea.

She came out holding a teacup, the aroma of the tea even stronger than before, with the usual gentle smile on her face.

But at this moment, that smile looked very unfamiliar to Jiang Heng.

Jiang Heng clutched the blanket draped over the sofa, holding back the impulse to question Xie An after a moment.

Despite all the mental preparation he had done, the moment he saw Xie An, it felt like it all collapsed.

What was left was a heart that felt like it had been swept into a fierce wave, unable to float and slowly sinking into the deep sea, making even breathing extremely difficult.

“Have you had lunch?” Xie An looked up, her voice as gentle as ever.

She poured herself a cup of tea and poured Jiang Heng a glass of water.

Jiang Heng didn’t like tea; he found it bitter.

Jiang Heng didn’t speak, lowering his head to look at the glass of water.

Xie An had cleaned the entire house, including the blanket on the sofa, which she had just laid out.

Only now did Jiang Heng realize that he didn’t dare drink the water Xie An had poured.

He lowered his eyes, avoiding looking at Xie An’s expression.

Mainly because he was afraid he couldn’t hold back.

Seeing this, Xie An didn’t show any dissatisfaction. Her smile at the corners of her mouth faded a bit as she fixed her gaze on Jiang Heng and said in the same tone as usual, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this earlier.”

Jiang Heng raised his eyelids, his tightly clenched knuckles turning white.

“Why?” Jiang Heng frowned, his tone cold, looking at Xie An with deep confusion as if looking at a stranger.

Even though Xie An’s attitude was the same as before, she was no longer the mother he remembered.

Oddly, Jiang Heng recalled the night of New Year’s Eve when he and Xie An sat on the sofa watching the Spring Festival Gala together.

He almost wished time had stopped at that moment.

“You were too young back then. I was afraid you wouldn’t understand, afraid you wouldn’t comprehend,” Xie An’s voice sounded very soothing, even when discussing these matters, she seemed to have little emotion.

In Xie An’s world, her version of the story with Jiang Jin had a few differences.

When Xie An was pregnant with Jiang Heng, she originally had an opportunity to participate in a major experiment. During that time, the lab was extremely busy, but she didn’t hide her pregnancy because some of the chemicals were not safe for pregnant women.

Since this child was a hard-won blessing for her and Jiang Jin, Xie An, being an expert in biology, naturally understood how difficult it was for a Beta to get pregnant.

At that time, she even considered taking a leave of absence to rest and nurture the fetus, as the lab was too dangerous.

But she felt that Jiang Jin didn’t really care about the child.

Whenever they met, Jiang Jin wouldn’t ask about the baby. Xie An wondered if Jiang Jin disliked children. So, she brought up the idea of aborting the child to Jiang Jin, and, as she expected, Jiang Jin agreed.

But Xie An still couldn’t bear to go through with it.

“He doesn’t love you,” Xie An said, looking at Jiang Heng with a slightly bitter expression, as if giving birth to Jiang Heng was an act of compassion towards him.

Jiang Heng met her gaze, tugging slightly at the corner of his mouth but saying nothing.

“But it doesn’t matter, I love you,” Xie An continued.

Jiang Heng’s eyelids twitched, and the hand resting on the sofa gradually clenched tighter.

After Jiang Heng was born, Xie An became even busier than before, but she would make time to spend with her son. But what about Jiang Jin?

Clearly, there was time, but Jiang Jin never knew how to spend it with his son, always coming up with grand excuses.

However, Xie An didn’t dare to blame Jiang Jin.

She knew that being with a Beta was a compromise for an Alpha. After all, Betas don’t have pheromones or glands and are considered the lowest in society. Because of this, Xie An worked so hard. She wanted everyone to know that Betas could be remarkable too. Fortunately, she seemed to have achieved this. The Alphas in their lab always looked at her with admiration, a female Beta biology professor with so many honors.

But all this meant nothing in front of Jiang Jin. She was still a Beta, and Jiang Jin was an Alpha. In today’s society, Alphas and Omegas are considered the perfect match.

This sense of inferiority had deeply surrounded Xie An since she was with Jiang Jin. She never dared to tell Jiang Jin, fearing he would leave her and find an Omega.

During Jiang Jin’s susceptibility periods, Xie An had to use inhibitors to soothe him instead of letting him bite her.

Xie An knew that Alphas had strong possessive instincts, but she also knew that Alphas were easily tempted by Omega pheromones.

In the past, every time Jiang Jin was in his susceptibility period, he would cling to her, even though she couldn’t soothe him with pheromones. It didn’t matter.

But gradually, she noticed that Jiang Jin didn’t inform her about his susceptibility periods right away. She wondered if Jiang Jin had found an Omega.

This thought made Xie An increasingly suspicious, but she was someone who kept her emotions bottled up. She endured it for a long time, yet Jiang Jin started picking fights with her more and more frequently. Xie An could only pretend nothing was wrong; she was afraid Jiang Jin would leave her.

He was her Alpha. He couldn’t leave, not because of another Omega. As long as he didn’t say it, Xie An thought she could pretend not to know.

Until one argument, Jiang Jin said he had fallen in love with another Omega.

That was the last straw for Xie An.

She decisively divorced Jiang Jin.

But the fact that Jiang Jin was with an Omega made it impossible for Xie An to sleep.

She thought about many things and even remembered a mentor she once reported.

This mentor was a progressive thinker who supported equality among ABOs and was also Xie An’s benefactor.

But back then, Xie An reported him because of a few words from Jiang Jin.

Xie An regretted it.

She knew where the mentor was being held, so she went to find him.

Fortunately, the mentor didn’t mind being reported. He said that humanity would always have someone to push their development forward. If not him, then someone else would come along. There would always be someone who understood that his experiments were for the benefit of humanity.

And Xie An was his successor.

Xie An expressed her intentions to the mentor, saying she had discovered the social unfairness caused by the existence of Alphas and Omegas, and she supported his ideas.

The mentor had always admired Xie An. He was also a Beta and said that Xie An would become a respected professor.

She would make significant contributions to humanity.

He told Xie An that his previous research data was with his daughter and that the data he submitted when he was captured was fake.

With the mentor’s data, Xie An began her experiments.

The mentor’s research team, apart from his daughter, included a few students who were at the same school as Xie An. After the mentor was captured, they were forced to disband, but under Xie An’s leadership, they secretly regrouped.

“I am very grateful to my mentor for giving me this opportunity,” Xie An said, her eyes seemingly glowing. “It allows me to contribute to humanity.”

But there was a tricky issue: they didn’t have a test subject.

Their experiments, if applied to humans, would require several years.

Xie An then voluntarily suggested that she could experiment on Jiang Heng. She thought that if she was willing to dedicate herself to humanity, Jiang Heng would surely be willing too. She didn’t tell Jiang Heng because he was too young at the time to understand what was good for him.

She could watch Jiang Heng grow up and wait for his differentiation.

Once Jiang Heng differentiated, he would understand that she was doing this for his own good.

So, she added their experimental drugs to the nutritional supplements she gave Jiang Heng.

Jiang Heng’s body showed no abnormalities before his differentiation, and they could improve their experimental protocols based on the pheromone levels in Jiang Heng’s body during his annual physical exams.

However, Xie An didn’t anticipate that the experiment would go wrong.

This made her extremely anxious. When Jiang Heng started experiencing susceptibility periods, she had to send him to Shen Huaizhi for “treatment.”

But she didn’t want her son to fall into a pit of fire.

Alphas are drawn to pheromones, driven by primal desires rather than genuine feelings.

Just like Jiang Jin, who, despite saying he loved her, was swayed by Omega pheromones and abandoned her, proclaiming his love for another Omega.

Only by achieving equality between Alphas and Omegas could they pursue true love.

After Xie An finished speaking, her eyes were red, but she still sat upright, looking at Jiang Heng with a sense of confidence. “You will understand me, right?”

“We’re only one step away. Your pheromones have stabilized. With just one final step, this experiment will yield results…”

“Have you ever thought that if the experiment fails, I might die?” Jiang Heng was silent for a long time. His tone reminded Xie An of the way Jiang Heng used to resent Jiang Jin in front of her, cold and seemingly wishing never to have any connection with him again.

“No, my experiment won’t fail…”

“But it already has,” Jiang Heng said, suddenly smiling. There was no emotion in his eyes, and he looked at Xie An as if she were a madwoman.

And indeed, Xie An was mad.

She lived in her own world, constantly professing love while pushing Jiang Heng into the abyss, claiming to love him but never willing to communicate more with Jiang Jin.

Professing to contribute to humanity, but merely driven by the hatred born from Jiang Jin’s betrayal years ago.

Hearing this, Xie An anxiously shook her head, “It hasn’t failed, it’s just the susceptibility period… Your pheromones have stabilized! Just one last injection…”

“I’m already a cripple now, aren’t I?” Jiang Heng interrupted Xie An, curling his lips. “Without Shen Huaizhi’s pheromones, your experiment won’t succeed.”

After speaking, he leaned back into the sofa, as if he had found a good idea. His smile widened even more. “If I remove my glands, does that mean your experiment ends?”

Jiang Heng once thought that a person’s gender was a gift from heaven. Even if his differentiation was unexpected and different from everyone else’s, it was natural and no one’s fault.

But now, it was artificial—

Glands were indeed useless to him.

Instead, they caused him trouble.

He sounded a bit threatening: “You know, I’m never afraid of pain.”

No, actually, he was very afraid.

“You can’t!” Xie An, fearing he might actually do something drastic, immediately glanced at the fruit knife on the coffee table and, without thinking, grabbed it and hid it under her clothes.

Seeing her reaction, Jiang Heng snorted, a bit mockingly, “If it were just you and me right now, I might actually do it.”

“But, it’s not just you now.”

He still had Shen Huaizhi.

If he really did something like that, that person would probably be very hurt, wouldn’t he?

Jiang Heng lowered his eyes, as if recalling something, and his smile became much more relaxed.

Xie An seemed to understand the meaning behind his words. For a moment, her expression even twisted. See, the influence of Alphas and Omegas was too profound.

She couldn’t let Jiang Heng continue like this, deceived by Alphas, and losing the chance to find true love.

But in just a few seconds, Xie An regained her composure. “Jiang Heng, don’t overthink it. Everything Mom does is for your own good. After the final procedure, when you wake up, you’ll see a whole new you. Then you’ll understand how well-intentioned Mom’s actions are.”

“Your father doesn’t love you, but Mom does. I’ll never hurt you.”

Jiang Heng shook his head. “I don’t need this.”

“I don’t want to go from being disabled to another kind of disabled.”

He finished with a sigh, then stood up again, looking down at Xie An as if unconcerned, reminding her, “If you really love me, you should turn yourself in, not trying to persuade me to join your illegal experiment here.”

“It’s not illegal! Once it succeeds, the country will thank me!” Xie An’s emotions surged. She looked at Jiang Heng with longing. She wouldn’t harm her own son. Wasn’t Jiang Heng living well now? To save him, she even found him a perfectly matched Alpha.

Jiang Heng nodded indifferently. “Then wait for the country to thank you.”

He knew that once the evidence was sufficient, Xie An would be sent to prison.

He paused, took a step forward, then stopped again, lowering his gaze to Xie An. “Mom.”

He hesitated, and at this moment, a feeling of suffocation spread from his heart once more.

From now on, he probably wouldn’t have a mom, would he?

Jiang Heng admitted to himself that he was very cold-blooded.

But he couldn’t convince himself to accept this version of Xie An. Perhaps he still loved her, but that love was not enough to outweigh his hatred towards her. He just wanted to be an ordinary person, with a normal family, loving parents, and a partner, wanting to grow up in a normal way. But neither Xie An nor Jiang Jin understood.

Once, people envied him for not having parents who attended parent-teacher meetings or cared about his grades, allowing him freedom.

“But they didn’t know that he envied them too.”

“Goodbye,” Jiang Heng whispered softly. Xie An wanted to stand up and grab his hand, but Jiang Heng had anticipated it, swiftly dodging away. He didn’t look back and left the place. It was much colder outside than inside the house.

As soon as Jiang Heng stepped outside, he was embraced tightly. It was only then that he realized he was trembling badly. The facade he had maintained in front of Xie An just moments ago crumbled instantly. He clung to Shen Huaizhi as if grasping a lifeline, burying his face in Shen Huaizhi’s chest. Though he hadn’t said a word, it felt like he had said so much more.

From now on, he only had Shen Huaizhi.

“It’s over,” Shen Huaizhi held him close, gently patting his back as if soothing a child. “It’s over, Jiang Heng.”

He said softly, then lowered his head to kiss Jiang Heng’s forehead.

The melting snow gradually enveloped Jiang Heng’s entire body, as if sensing his Omega’s melancholy. Alpha pheromones tentatively wrapped around his ankles, climbing up his spine. Even though there was only a door between them, Xie An didn’t chase after him.

Inside and outside the door felt like two separate worlds. Jiang Heng buried himself in Shen Huaizhi’s embrace for a while, and not a sound came from behind the door.

After a while, Jiang Heng twitched his nose, his ears burning, and with a wooden face, he muttered, “Shen Huaizhi, retract your pheromones.”

This person, using pheromones to flirt with him at a time like this. His back was tingling.

Shen Huaizhi hummed and smiled subtly in his eyes. “Not going to cry?”

Jiang Heng replied hesitantly, “…”

“Are you a masochist? Are you hoping I’ll cry?” As he spoke, he tried to lift his head, but Shen Huaizhi gently pushed it back down.

Jiang Heng gritted his teeth. Alright, Shen Huaizhi didn’t need to answer that question; he was indeed a masochist.

“It might feel better if you cry,” Shen Huaizhi sounded a bit misunderstood, almost plaintive. “But when you cry, you’re really cute.”

Jiang Heng stayed silent. The pain that had been choking him seemed to dissipate somewhat because of Shen Huaizhi’s words. Jiang Heng endured, but he couldn’t help himself. He tried to attack, but Shen Huaizhi seemed to sense his intent and intercepted his movement. For a brief moment, their abdomens met, then Shen Huaizhi withdrew slightly, sighing, “If you want to hit me, go ahead.”

He sounded quite aggrieved.

Jiang Heng: “…”

Jiang Heng gritted his teeth, about to say something, when he heard Shen Huaizhi continue softly, “You’re cute when you hit people too.”

“Shen Huaizhi, are you crazy?” Jiang Heng couldn’t bear it anymore.

But he had to admit, Shen Huaizhi’s way of comforting seemed to gradually ease the mood that had just been affected by Xie An. Shen Huaizhi’s “perverse therapy” was actually working on him.

Inside the room, Xie An stared at the tightly closed door and began searching for her phone. She made a call to her assistant.

“What about our backup plan? If it doesn’t work, we’ll have to resort to force!”

“My experiment must succeed!”

“Professor, calm down. We will succeed. It’s just that now there’s close scrutiny on our lab from above, and we…”

“What does that matter? This is your father’s lifelong work. Are you willing to abandon it?”

“We’re almost there. I can’t bear to stop now. I want to fulfill my mentor’s wish.”

It was also her own wish. Jiang Heng would understand.

—

The winter vacation passed quickly. Before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, school had already started, and the classrooms were chaotic.

Chen Xingchi munched on a piece of pastry, feverishly copying Jiang Heng’s homework.

Jiang Heng held his pen between his teeth, his voice slightly muffled. “Never thought I’d be letting someone copy my homework one day.” There was a hint of pride in his tone.

Chen Xingchi chuckled and endured it. Jiang Heng was studying hard, and he… well, he’d better focus on copying homework.

Just then, Shen Huaizhi, who had gone to the teacher to get the registration form for the new semester, entered through the front door.

Although Jiang Heng and Shen Huaizhi had been almost inseparable during this winter vacation, seeing Shen Huaizhi in his school uniform still made Jiang Heng a bit distracted. There was a touch of youthful vigor added, which still fascinated him.

It wasn’t until Shen Huaizhi announced from the lectern, “Students who need to update their information, please come to me to fill out the registration form again. Those who don’t need changes can follow the usual reporting procedure,” that Jiang Heng squinted, admiring his Alpha for a while. There were hardly any classmates in the class who needed to change their information. After one male classmate finished filling out the form at the lectern, no one else went up.

Jiang Heng pondered for a moment, then slowly raised his hand. “Class leader, I need to change my phone number.”

“But my legs are numb. I wonder if you could help deliver it?”

Author’s note: Xie An’s matter will be resolved in the next chapter.

Jiang Heng: I feel so weak, powerless, and my legs are numb.