MBBBA Chapter 1

X Month XX Day, 2016.

11:00 PM.

Qiao Qiao turned off the lights, snuggled into Zhang Peng’s arms, and wrapped his arms around his waist with contentment. Sleep quickly began to overtake him.

Zhang Peng, on the other hand, was wide awake, his mind occupied with the company’s dire financial situation. He lay there, eyes open, counting sheep by touching Qiao Qiao’s ear, over and over again. But instead of sheep, all he could see were stacks of Renminbi floating before his eyes.

Qiao Qiao’s ear grew warm and flushed from his touch, causing him to shift uncomfortably.

Zhang Peng quickly apologized and gently patted Qiao Qiao’s back, as if coaxing a child to sleep, “It’s okay, it’s my fault. Go to sleep.”

But Qiao Qiao knew he was worried about the company. He slid down slightly and…

“!” Zhang Peng quickly pulled Qiao Qiao back into his arms. “Do you want something? Let me help you.”

Qiao Qiao thought to himself, I’m the one who’s trying to help you relieve your worries.

But Zhang Peng had already turned over and pressed him beneath him.

After a round of passionate activity, both were thoroughly satisfied.

Once they were done, Qiao Qiao immediately fell into a deep sleep. Zhang Peng carried him to the bathroom, cleaned him up, and then brought him back to bed.

He lay down again, pulling Qiao Qiao into his arms, turned off the lights, and quickly fell asleep.

Indeed, doi is the best way to relieve stress.

In his sleep, Qiao Qiao smiled.

The next day, 6:30 AM.

“Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz.”

The sound of his phone vibrating woke Zhang Peng. Groggily, he opened his eyes, his face still heavy with fatigue.

He reached out, fumbling around the bedside for his phone. After a few clumsy attempts, he finally grabbed it and glanced at the screen. Today’s schedule read, “Meeting with Mr. Chen from Zhuyu Capital.”

Next to him, Qiao Qiao, who had sprawled out in a starfish position, frowned slightly at the noise. With his eyes still closed, he instinctively rolled into Zhang Peng’s arms, wrapping his arms around his waist as he mumbled sleepily, “So early?”

“I have to meet a client today,” Zhang Peng replied, planting a quick kiss on Qiao Qiao’s forehead. “You go back to sleep.”

Qiao Qiao buried his face in Zhang Peng’s chest and, within a second, was off to meet the sandman again.

Zhang Peng gently moved Qiao Qiao’s hand from around his waist, carefully got out of bed, and tiptoed to the bathroom. After freshening up, he put on the suit he had ironed the night before, picked up his thoroughly checked notebook, took a deep breath, and stepped out of the house. He took the bus, transferred to the subway, and then took another bus, finally reaching his destination—Zhuyu Capital—after two and a half hours.

Zhuyu Capital was a subsidiary of the Wei Group. If he could secure funding from this venture capital firm, his company would be saved.

Zhang Peng masked his exhaustion from days of running around with a confident expression, holding his notebook as he strode into the tall, bright office building. The receptionist greeted him with a friendly smile, asking him to wait for a while. However, after that, she disappeared, and Mr. Chen, who had agreed to meet him, never showed up.

Zhang Peng patiently sat in the lobby, looking like a fresh graduate waiting for a job interview, pitifully waiting for his chance.

Ignored by everyone, all he could do was repeatedly review the contents of his notebook.

Suddenly, he heard the elevator ding. Looking up, he saw Mr. Chen walking over with a group of young alphas, laughing and chatting. It turned out that although the receptionist had told him to wait outside the office, Mr. Chen wasn’t even there.

Zhang Peng pushed aside the nearly hour-long cold reception, smiling as he approached Mr. Chen. Mr. Chen looked at him in confusion, trying to remember who he was.

Zhang Peng, who had faced numerous rejections, wasn’t offended. He enthusiastically introduced himself, “I’m the one who scheduled an appointment with you earlier. Our company specializes in AI solutions. My name is Zhang Peng, and here’s my business card.” He pulled out his business card from his suit pocket and respectfully presented it to Mr. Chen.

Mr. Chen suddenly remembered, but he didn’t take the card. Instead, he pointed at Zhang Peng and said, “You’re the one in AI, right? I remember you have a background in civil engineering.”

Zhang Peng’s heart sank. He quickly explained, “I self-taught computer programming during university, and I’ve been a front-line programmer for several years after graduation…”

“Pfft.” One of the young alphas behind Mr. Chen couldn’t help but laugh. Everyone turned to look at him, and he waved his hand, shaking his head as he said, “Sorry, I really couldn’t help it. Dude, you’re from civil engineering, and now you’re doing AI?”

The other alphas laughed as well.

Mr. Chen also laughed, “Xiao Zhang, I forgot to mention, these guys here are top-notch IT professionals.” He affectionately patted the young alpha who had laughed first, speaking in a tone of encouragement, “This is Zhu Ming. His technical skills are excellent. You guys should connect on WeChat and get to know each other.”

Zhu Ming swiftly pulled out his phone, “Shall I scan your code?”

Having been in the working world for several years, Zhang Peng had experienced his share of cold shoulders. Being laughed at by a twenty-something didn’t faze him. He casually took out his phone and opened his WeChat QR code, “My name is Zhang Peng—Zhang with a long bow, and Peng as in friend.”

“And I’m Zhu as in Zhu Chongba, and Ming as in Ming from the Sun Moon Sect,” Zhu Ming said as he scanned the code. While waiting for Zhang Peng to accept, he continued, “Dude, since we’ve met, let me give you some advice: don’t mess around with flashy stuff. Civil engineering is a good field. If you take the second-level construction engineer exam in the future, the referral fees alone will be enough for you. AI is a concept that’s been around since the 1960s. It’s not new. Don’t let anyone fool you. With our current technology, AI? It’s more like ‘artificial stupidity.’”

Before Zhang Peng could refute, Mr. Chen interrupted, “I’ve only briefly looked into this project, but it seems like Xiao Zhang is talking about something promising?” Something that sounds this high-tech is actually an old concept from the last century? He wasn’t tech-savvy and had almost been led astray.

Zhu Ming smiled, about to give Mr. Chen a crash course on machine learning and neural networks, but Zhang Peng frowned and cut him off, saying, “Mr. Chen, I believe AI is definitely the next big trend. With the rapid development of 4G mobile networks in recent years, the demand for AI services will greatly increase. I’ve analyzed this thoroughly in my notebook. I predict that the demand for technologies such as computer vision, speech recognition, image processing, and even autonomous driving will reach a peak around 2018…”

Mr. Chen listened absentmindedly for a while, then checked his watch and smiled, “How about this, Xiao Zhang? Let’s schedule another time to talk, okay? I still need to show these young guys around the company and really can’t spare the time right now.”

Zhang Peng shut his mouth: In Mr. Chen’s eyes, giving a tour to a few fresh graduates was more important than reviewing his proposal.

Zhang Peng nodded, “Sorry to bother you.” He didn’t feel embarrassed. His idea didn’t appeal to them, and that wasn’t their fault.

He just thought to himself that there were still a few smaller venture capital firms he hadn’t approached yet, and he needed to contact them as soon as possible.

Behind him, however, he heard whispers, “How much ability could a beta possibly have? Starting his own business—what a joke.”

Another voice agreed, “Betas just don’t have the skills. Switching from civil engineering to IT—probably because he can’t compete with alphas in bricklaying.”

Zhang Peng stood at the elevator, his expression calm as he listened to the alphas’ remarks.

“You guys don’t know what you’re talking about,” came a familiar voice in Zhang Peng’s defense. “At least he has ideas and guts. You guys might be skilled, but I haven’t seen any of you achieve anything big.”

Zhang Peng recognized the voice as Zhu Ming, the one who had added him on WeChat. He smiled wryly, stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button for the first floor.

He felt like his entire morning had been spent building up karma. Three hours of effort, wasted, with a few bucks in travel expenses down the drain, and not a single cent of investment secured.

There’s a theory called the Law of Conservation of Luck.

I must be about to experience something great, he thought, as he turned right out of the building and headed to a lottery shop. After carefully selecting his numbers, he bought a stack of lottery tickets.

Just as he tucked the hopeful tickets into his pocket, Zhang Peng caught a whiff of a sweet and tangy scent, something like an overripe plum, sweet yet still a bit green.

Puzzled, Zhang Peng looked around but didn’t see any fruit stalls. Instead, he noticed a person lying on the ground across the street from the lottery shop. It wasn’t clear whether they had been hit by a car or had fainted from heatstroke.

For some reason, Zhang Peng felt as if his subconscious was telling him that the plum scent was coming from that person. Some instinct urged him to go over and claim that plum-scented person for himself.

If Zhang Peng were seventeen or eighteen, he probably would have charged over there. But now, having been tempered by life, he simply swallowed and suppressed the impulse to claim that plum scent for himself.

That must be an omega, and a very sweet one at that, he thought. But he instinctively didn’t dare to think too deeply about it.

How could a beta like him have such possessive thoughts about an omega?

Something must be wrong here.

Zhang Peng took out his phone and dialed 110 and 120, requesting assistance for the person. He wasn’t going to go over himself—who knew if this was a scam? He didn’t hide his indifference, and after making the calls, he prepared to leave. But then he heard a commotion behind him, and the sweet plum scent intensified, filling his senses. The next thing he knew, he heard footsteps rushing from all directions—people from the office buildings, the milk tea shops, the street vendors—all heading toward the omega.

Zhang Peng looked around and saw that many strong and vigorous alphas were moving toward the omega, realizing that the omega was going into heat!

He had to get that omega to a hospital immediately.

Alphas couldn’t resist the temptation of an omega in heat, especially in such a densely populated area.

A fierce battle among the alphas, driven by their primal instincts, would be inevitable.

A few betas who had wanted to help backed off when they felt the aggressive pheromones emanating from the alphas.

Zhang Peng weighed his chances, tossed his notebook aside, and, despite the overwhelming pressure of the alphas’ pheromones, made a beeline toward the omega.

Although he was a beta, Zhang Peng had never been suppressed by alpha pheromones.

The alphas, thinking someone dared to snatch their prey, roared in anger and sped up. Out of the corner of his eye, Zhang Peng saw that among these alphas were some of the young men he had encountered at Zhuyu Capital earlier.

Their noses are really sharp!

Since these alphas had already lost their rationality, Zhang Peng blatantly flipped them off.

You guys don’t even run this fast when you need to pee!

He cursed the alphas as beasts and sprinted toward the omega with the speed of a hundred-meter dash. Seeing that the omega couldn’t stand up due to the heat, Zhang Peng took off his suit jacket, wrapped the omega in it, and without any gentleness, threw the omega over his shoulder like a sack of sand. Then he dashed toward the hospital.

A group of alphas chased after Zhang Peng, releasing pheromones filled with violent intent.

Zhang Peng had always been in good physical condition, and today he performed exceptionally well, not only leaving the alphas far behind but also getting faster and more energized as he ran. At some point, he even caught a whiff of a strong cola scent, and the refreshing feeling that came with it made him feel as if he were on a high. The usual 15-minute walk to the hospital was covered in just 5 minutes, and when he finally delivered the omega safely, he felt like he could run a couple more laps.

While Zhang Peng felt relieved, the emergency center was thrown into chaos by the omega’s arrival.

After waiting in the hospital corridor for a while, Zhang Peng wondered if he could stick around long enough to meet the omega’s family and maybe score a thank-you reward.

He waited a long time, but no one showed up. Feeling that his part in this was over, he was about to leave when a young nurse hurried over and told him that the omega he had saved hadn’t woken up yet and couldn’t thank him in person, so she asked him to leave his contact information.

Zhang Peng smiled, “It’s fine as long as they’re okay,” but he didn’t plan to leave his name. He was, however, quite interested in knowing, “What about those alphas?”

The nurse replied, “They were apprehended by the police on the spot.”

Zhang Peng nearly burst out laughing—the nurse had painted such a vivid picture. Satisfied with the outcome, he happily headed toward the hospital exit. As he walked, he heard the nurse muttering, “Where’s that cola smell coming from?” He paused, realizing he had smelled it too.

Just then, a group of people rushed into the hospital, led by a well-dressed woman who grabbed the nurse and asked anxiously, “How is our Jiang Wan?”

“The omega who was just brought in? He’s fine; he’s probably resting now,” the nurse replied, pointing to Zhang Peng, “The beta who saved him is still here; you can start showing your gratitude.”

Jiang Wan’s mother turned around, following the nurse’s finger to see Zhang Peng, and was startled, “Beta?” The young man before her was exuding such a strong pheromone, practically shouting, “I’m the number one alpha in the universe” and yet they were telling her he was a beta?

Mrs. Jiang sniffed the air, catching a whiff of that sour cola scent. Oh, it was easy to see how someone could be confused. If she hadn’t been through enough matchmaking attempts for Jiang Wan to know all kinds of strange pheromone scents—like durian—she would have thought someone had spilled a soda somewhere instead of linking it to pheromones.

“Just because your pheromones smell like cola doesn’t mean you can pretend to be a beta!” Mrs. Jiang rushed up and grabbed Zhang Peng by the collar. “If you’re an alpha, just admit it. Are you afraid our omega will cling to you?” Jiang Wan was already in his heat but still hadn’t found a partner, and she was worried sick. Now, an alpha had fallen into their lap, who was also Jiang Wan’s savior—how could she let him go?

“I checked his information…” The nurse, puzzled, looked at Zhang Peng, who reeked of cola. “I’ve never seen a case of an alpha differentiating at 27 years old before. I guess there’s a first for everything.”

Zhang Peng shook off Mrs. Jiang’s grip, took a step back, and with a cold expression, sarcastically remarked, “Having a mother like you, it’s better to have none.”

Although he wasn’t sure if he had suddenly differentiated into an alpha, Mrs. Jiang’s “catch a son-in-law on the spot” attitude was truly unsightly.

Realizing he was probably going to be stuck at the hospital for a while, his first reaction was to report to Qiao Qiao: “Wifey, I think I might be going through a second puberty. I’m at the hospital now, so you’ll have to have lunch without me.”

“Really? Really?” Qiao Qiao, unfortunately, misunderstood his message. “Eighteen centimeters is already too much. Please, no more growth!”

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