Chapter 2 – Meeting the S-class Alpha
Title: 顶级掠食者 (Alpha Predator)
Author：水千丞 (ShuiQianCheng)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists ：沈岱 (Shen Dai -MC), 瞿末予 (Qu Moyu -ML)
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After finishing a batch of experimental data, Shen Dai left work early.
He owns a single-room dormitory in the research institute, where he usually sleeps if he works overtime. But he still tries to go home once a week.
After his family’s house was mortgaged and auctioned, he rented a small apartment for his grandmother in the suburbs. Although it was very remote, it was cheap and clean. His grandmother cared about cleanliness the most.
He took the subway and rode a bus after that. On the way home, he passed by a small vegetable market, which was about to close for the day. He bought some meat and vegetables and also a bunch of pink-purple peonies. Its petals are thin and tender. They huddled together in layers and were surrounded by the vitality that would about to disappear.
When he used to live in their old home, his grandmother kept a yard containing all kinds of flowers. During the spring, the garden had the best view of flowers. It was his favourite place when he was young. Now that they have moved to a small apartment, he can only plant a few pots on the balcony. He also had to have them compete for the sunlight under such a small space.
The apartment was relatively new and the overall maintenance was good. The lights in the corridor were quite warm. As he walked up the stairs, he could hear the sound of TV growing louder and louder as he drew nearer. It was the sound of his grandmother’s favourite Kunqu Opera. When he opened the door, the aroma of the food wafted into his nostrils. Shen Dai suddenly felt like his whole body could relax.
“Ah Dai?” His grandmother poked her head out from the frosted glass door of the kitchen and smiled, “You really know the right time to come back. I’m about to close the pot for my last dish.”
Shen Dai also showed a gentle smile: “Grandma.” He put down the vegetables. He then took a vase, rinsed it with water, cut the peony branches diagonally and put them in it. He sprinkled a little water on the tender petals with his hands. As soon as the table was placed, the atmosphere of the entire home was immediately enriched.
His grandmother came out of the kitchen carrying the dishes: “How much are these?” She put down the dishes and freed her hand to play with the petals, “They’re so fresh and beautiful.”
“I went when they were about to close the stall. It’s only ten yuan per stick. I picked the freshest ones.”
“That’s a good deal.” His grandmother looked at the flower carefully, “Do you remember? I used to grow peonies in the soil of the east wall in our old house?”
“Of course I remember.” Shen Dai went to the kitchen to put the food on the table at one end and then brought the bowls and chopsticks to serve the rice and soup, “Grandma, sit down.”
His grandmother smiled and looked at the flowers. She then looked at Shen Dai: “You seem to be a bit pale. You need to get more sunshine. Don’t just stay stuck in the laboratory all day.”
“Don’t worry about me.”
While eating, the two chatted about trivial matters in life and work. Seeing the white hair on his grandmother’s temple gleaming slightly under the light, Shen Dai’s heart couldn’t help but feel a little sad.
His grandmother was born into a scholarly family. Although she was not that wealthy, her family was well-off. If it wasn’t for the unfortunate birth of a selfish and stupid son, she would now be in a small villa with a garden, guarding a considerable inheritance and pension. She would also be surrounded with all kinds of good things such as growing flowers, reading books, basking in the sun, and enjoying the rest of her old life.
Even though she is now having a downturned life, she is always elegant and decent. She kept looking for the quality and fun of life even in the embarrassing days. She was also trying not to drag her grandson down as much as possible. But Shen Dai knew that the betrayal of her own son, the drastic changes in her old life, and the pain of her old body had left her heart full of holes. Nonetheless , he knew that she refused to show it in front of him.
It would be great if what You Xinghai said was true. He couldn’t wait to sacrifice himself. That was because his greatest wish was to have a comfortable life and to give a decent old life to the grandmother who raised him.
Ever since he met with You Xinghai a week ago, Shen Dai has not received any more news. He has changed from apprehension to disappointment but also some inexplicable relief. In short, his mood was very delicate. He even wondered if the meeting that day had been nothing but his own imagination due to his insanely poor self. Either that, or You Xinghai has changed his mind. Or maybe the party that he was supposed to be married to has changed his mind. Anyway, this matter sounded so strange so it was normal for it not to have any follow ups.
On the day he was working in the laboratory, his personnel colleague went to look for him with a look of curiosity. He was told to pay a visit to the headquarters: “Shen Gong, are you going to transfer?”
“No.” Shen Dai was also surprised himself, “Could there be anything wrong?”
“I definitely didn’t know anything. That’s why I asked you?” The colleague pondered, “Usually, the headquarters doesn’t care much about the personnel of our institute. Anyway, you go there first. Someone is said to be picking you up at the front desk.”
“Okay.” Shen Dai went back to the laboratory to greet his colleagues and went straight to the headquarters building. He hesitated to call his teacher to ask so he decided to see what was going on first.
The Xingzhou Group’s headquarters building cost about 500 million yuan to build. It is truly a pillar of strength for the company. Most of the time when Shen Dai came here, he went to the cafeteria. He rarely set foot in other offices or scientific research areas.
He walked into the lobby and saw three to four people standing at the front desk. He couldn’t tell who was visiting and who was picking him up. But as soon as he walked over, a young man in a suit greeted him: “Shen Gong, right? Hello.”
“Hello.” The two shook hands. Shen Dai asked, “What’s your name?”
“My name is Cheng Ruoze, and I’m the assistant to the president.” He made a ‘please’ gesture and lightly grabbed Shen Dai’s shoulder. He strode forward, looking like he was in a hurry, “Let’s talk as we walk.”
“Uh, okay.” The alpha is generally tall so Shen Dai had to quickly follow him, “Assistant Cheng, may I know…”
“This way.” Cheng Ruoze opened an elevator door using his employee card.
The interior of the elevator was gorgeous. It was covered with thick woollen carpets. At first glance, it should be an internal elevator for leaders. Shen Dai walked in with doubts in his heart. He wanted to ask questions but was interrupted by Cheng Ruoze: “Actually, I am also in a specific situation where I have no idea what’s going on. I was only ordered to pick you up.”
Shen Dai frowned. He has no idea what he is going to face next. When they engage in scientific research, they all seize a little inspiration, follow a clue, make judgments, go through trial and error, and explore. But if they weren’t given any clues, they really can’t analyse anything.
Cheng Ruoze suddenly caught sight of the pheromone barrier sticker on the glands on the back of Shen Dai’s neck. He was stunned for a moment. His whole self unconsciously took a half step aside: “Are you… an Omega?”
Shen Dai smiled and nodded.
“I’m sorry.” Cheng Ruoze apologised awkwardly. He secretly looked at Shen Dai from top to bottom in one fell swoop. The young man in front of him was slender and thin. His skin was clean and fair. He looked gentle and handsome. He is as calm as the sea. That loose lab coat was just right to highlight the sense of his body’s bone structure, straight shoulders, and the waist that wanders in the fabric… it wasn’t too sturdy and wasn’t too thin. His temperament is the same as his appearance, giving people a look and feel of appropriation and respect. There’s also a hint of indifference and otherworldliness. As the elevator rose rapidly, Cheng Ruoze felt that his heartbeat was a little unruly. Their company has such an Omega, why hasn’t he noticed it before?
In the normal social state between strangers, Alpha and Omega should not touch more than just a handshake. It was inappropriate for Cheng Ruoze to take his shoulder just now. But Shen Dai didn’t feel offended, he knew that he did not look as delicate and soft as most Omegas in appearance. He looked more like a Beta and his pheromones usually smelled very light and could barely be smelled after putting on the barrier stickers. As he grew up since he was a child, he had often been mistaken for a Beta most of the time. It was actually a good thing for him, especially when it comes to being in a work space.
The elevator goes straight up to the 28th floor. As soon as the door opened, he saw a gorgeous handmade carpet that extended all the way to the entrance of an office with an ebony door.
Shen Dai took a deep breath: “Could it be that the president wants to see me?” Could it be that he was about to be promoted? But he hadn’t done much recently.
Cheng Ruoze retracted his mind: “This way, please.”
Shen Dai followed him into the office. When he saw the person in the room, he was stunned. He didn’t expect to see this person behind the ebony door. He unconsciously slipped his hands into the pockets of his lab coat to hide his nervousness. People around him always say that he is a calm person akin to his own name. He doesn’t think he has any special reassurance technique for being calm and stable. He just thinks that people should use their brains more and their emotions less. That doesn’t mean he won’t be nervous when it comes to a certain situation.
“President Qu, I’ve brought Shen Gong to you.” Cheng Ruoze looked at his watch, “The meeting will start in twelve minutes.”
“Okay.”
Cheng Ruoze left and closed the door. The person who was sitting on the sofa reading the document raised his head. At the same time, the two eyes collided in the air.
The one sitting on the sofa is a handsome man who can light up the whole space. He can seamlessly integrate any background into a movie shot. A face of infinite fantasy. It was sharp and perfect. He was sitting on the soft sofa in a relaxed posture, but he still had a killer aura. He was full of restraints, like a calm sea. But no one dared to underestimate the turbulent underwater currents. That is because this person is an S-class Alpha, a genius born with top pheromones and standing at the top of the human food chain.
He is the first heir of Xingzhou Group – Qu Moyu.
Shen Dai stared blankly at Qu Moyu. He hasn’t looked at this person so closely for a long time and it seems that he can smell a little bit of the pheromone of ebony wood in his memory. Of course, this is most likely only his hallucination. Putting pheromone blocking stickers in public is a basic etiquette. After sticking them on, you must be close to a certain social distance in order to smell the faint smell of pheromone. Shen Dai is still at the door at this time.
He calmed down as soon as possible. He then found that there was actually another person in the room. The person is a middle-aged Alpha wearing glasses sitting on the other side of the sofa and looking like he was on standby. Shen Dai recognized this person from the legal department of the group. The specific position is unclear, but he must be a senior executive.
Qu Moyu looked at Shen Dai slowly. His eyes were calm but unfathomable. He smiled slightly: “Shen Gong, sit down.”
Shen Dai’s Adam’s apple slid up and down. He walked over and bowed slightly: “Hello, Mr. Qu.” He nodded again to the other executive and then sat down.
His eyes swept over and found that the documents in front of Qu Moyu was his own personnel file, with his two-inch photo attached to it. Why would Qu Moyu look for him?
“Shen Dai.” Qu Moyu tapped his information with his slender fingers and spit out his name clearly, “‘Dai’ refers to Mount Tai.”
“Yes.”
“That’s a nice name, who gave it to you?”
“My late grandfather.” Shen Dai’s heart was surging, “He was a Chinese painter and liked to paint mountains very much.”
“Mount Tai is the head of the Five Sacred Mountains and the place where the ancient emperors enshrined Zen. With such a heavy word, it seemed that the old man had high hopes for you.” It is strange to imagine an Omega carrying such a strong name, but it is even stranger that Qu Moyu would think the name matches the person in front of him.
Shen Dai smiled embarrassedly: “Maybe he just likes Mount Tai.”
Qu Moyu stared at Shen Dai: “The ‘accident’ in the laboratory three years ago had no adverse effect on your current work, right?”
“No, everything is pretty good.” Shen Dai’s face suddenly became hot: “You… you still remember.”
“I have a good memory.”
“For that time… Thank you, Mr. Qu, for helping me.” Shen Dai will never forget that day. It was his most shameful, fearful and desperate moment in his life. It was Qu Moyu who fell from the sky to not only save him, but also block the news and settle all the troubles afterwards. If he were to recall that day again after the trauma has healed, the most profound memory is the intense pheromone entanglement between him and Qu Moyu. The desire, burning heat, impulsivity, suffering, restraint, and unfulfilled craving slowly lingered in his surging heart.
Since then, whenever he sees or hears of Qu Moyu, he will pay special attention. He doesn’t know if this is a crush or not. He occasionally has some unrealistic fantasies, but more of it is towards admiration instead of love. It is because this person is too far in status compared to him and is too perfect. He never imagined that after the accident, he would even have the opportunity to have such a close encounter again.
“You are an excellent researcher in our company. I’m glad I was able to help.” Qu Moyu said, “I called you here today was first, because I wanted to get to know you formally, and second, to know if you have any requirements.”
“…requirements?” Shen Dai asked quizzically, “Mr. Qu, I don’t quite understand. My teacher didn’t tell me any recent news.”
Qu Moyu raised his eyebrows slightly: “I mean, after marriage, what requirements do you have? Such as living expenses, living environment, personal habits, diet, beliefs, car allocation grade, etc.? As long as it is not excessive, you can ask for it.”
Shen Dai only listened to a humming sound in his head. He’s not stupid. He can even be said to be quite smart, but he couldn’t respond to this sentence for a long time.
Qu Moyu glanced at the watch naturally as he leaned slightly. He didn’t seem impatient, but his tone was lowered: “Shen Gong, President You said, you personally agreed to be engaged to me. Is there any mistake in this message?”
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Next Update: 2022.04.04
*Translator’s Note: Shen Dai was called Shen Gong at work and I’m like.. I don’t know how to express this honorific in English. It’s like ‘Lord’, ‘Master’… something like that. I’m sure he was called with the honorific ‘Gong’ as respect for his position. So, in English, it’s still just ‘Mr.’, right? For now, I think I’ll just stick to ‘Gong’ but if you guys have suggestions for the English way of expressing that, you can suggest to me. Thanks. -K
*Proofread by 2023.03.08* I will proofread other chapters when I’m free.*
