After a few rings, the call finally connected.
Zhang Peng gently called out, “Xiao Qiao.”
Hearing the familiar voice, Qiao Qiao’s tone softened as he whimpered, “Peng Peng, come quickly, there’s a bad guy here.”
Zhang Peng immediately knew that Qiao Qiao must have been drinking and was now in a bit of a daze. But Qiao Qiao never drank when he was out, knowing he couldn’t handle alcohol.
A bad guy?
Zhang Peng kept his cool. “I’m on my way to pick you up at school.”
Qiao Qiao, his head spinning, grumbled, “It’s so noisy, I can’t hear you clearly. Let’s talk later.”
Zhang Peng agreed, “Alright, I’ll hang up for now.”
“Who are you talking to?” A male voice full of amusement sounded behind Qiao Qiao. “Xiao Qiao, I’m right here, and you’re thinking about another man?”
Qiao Qiao turned around, his dazed eyes struggling to focus.
Zhang Peng, rather than taking the subway, quickly hailed a ride, eager to reach the school and get Qiao Qiao.
The car that arrived was a SAIC Roewe, driven by an owner dressed meticulously in a suit, who, despite his slightly thinning hair, looked quite respectable.
As soon as Zhang Peng got into the car, the driver frowned. “Did you spill a drink on yourself?” The scent of cola filled the air.
Zhang Peng, expressionless, explained, “It’s pheromones. Please hurry; I’m in a rush.”
The driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror, noting the serious demeanor and realizing Zhang Peng wasn’t joking. He was puzzled—pheromones could smell like this? Although he was a beta, his job had brought him into contact with many alphas, and most of their pheromones, even if not particularly fragrant, had a certain high-end quality. This cola scent was definitely unusual.
Zhang Peng shot the driver a look. “Are we going or not?”
That look alone convinced the driver that Zhang Peng was indeed an alpha.
The prickling sensation down his spine, the overwhelming presence, the sheer intensity of the gaze—no beta could possess these qualities.
The driver chuckled nervously. “Right away.” Despite Zhang Peng’s cold demeanor, the driver kept chatting, “Are you from N University? Must be a top student. I’ve got a distant relative who’s also an alpha and graduated from N University. He’s now the technical director at Zhuyu Electric. You alphas—you’re smart, strong, and capable. Us betas can’t compare; we’re just cogs in the machine. High-tech stuff needs alphas like you.”
Society was such that not only did alphas look down on betas, but even betas themselves often accepted that they were inherently inferior, assuming they couldn’t match up to alphas.
Zhang Peng didn’t respond to the driver’s flattery, simply stating, “I’ve already graduated. I’m just going to pick someone up.”
“Oh, okay.” The driver glanced back again through the mirror, noticing that Zhang Peng had closed his eyes as if to nap, so he fell silent and switched to playing a slow, soothing song.
Every alpha enjoyed preferential treatment and more resources. Combined with their higher overall abilities, most alphas achieved significant success. The driver, hoping to build a connection, now felt dejected after being brushed off. He concluded that this alpha wasn’t particularly friendly.
Zhang Peng, preoccupied with thoughts of Qiao Qiao, wasn’t interested in chatting. Besides, even though he had graduated years ago, he still felt like an old, stagnant fish. He had only recently differentiated into an alpha and hadn’t yet enjoyed any of the typical alpha privileges, so the driver’s remarks didn’t resonate with him.
Can gender really determine a person’s success?
His Xiao Qiao, a beta, had already earned a PhD from a prestigious 985 university, with research capabilities that outshone many alphas.
Xiao Qiao was the best.
Even after years together as an old married couple, just thinking of Qiao Qiao still made Zhang Peng’s heart skip a beat.
The driver assumed Zhang Peng was too proud to talk to him and didn’t dare say another word all the way to the school.
Zhang Peng didn’t dwell on it. As soon as he got out of the car, he headed straight into the campus. Along the way, he noticed several people who were jogging glancing his way, and after a while, they couldn’t resist the urge any longer—they rushed to the nearest vending machine to buy a bottle of ice-cold cola.
Gulp, gulp, gulp—Ah!
As more and more people started buying cola, Zhang Peng had to work hard to suppress his pheromones to avoid inadvertently causing the university’s obesity rate to spike.
I should buy a pheromone detector soon.
Judging by the current situation, his pheromone levels were increasing rapidly.
In theory, alphas who undergo secondary development should have pheromone levels below average.
This meant his pheromones shouldn’t be so strong that they affected betas.
When he reached Qiao Qiao’s dorm, he knocked on the door and was greeted by Qiao Qiao’s roommate.
“Here to see Xiao Qiao?” The roommate grinned. “He got dragged to a class reunion by some of his classmates.”
Zhang Peng smiled back. “He mentioned it and asked me to pick him up, but he didn’t clearly tell me where.”
“I think it’s at Xiushui Restaurant,” the roommate said, though he didn’t sound entirely sure.
Zhang Peng nodded. “Thanks, I’ll go check it out.”
“Wait a minute.” The roommate turned back to Qiao Qiao’s bed and retrieved a document. “He came back to school today to get his household registration, right? The counselor dropped it off during dinner.”
Zhang Peng took the household registration book, checked it over, and confirmed it was correct.
“There’s one more thing I should tell you.” The roommate hesitated before saying, “Your Xiao Qiao didn’t seem too keen on attending that reunion. He was kind of forced to go. I overheard something about an old classmate from undergrad coming back—someone Xiao Qiao had a falling out with. The people dragging him along were insisting on making them reconcile.”
Zhang Peng listened carefully. “Thanks a lot. If anything comes up, message me on WeChat. I’m heading out.”
“Better hurry,” the roommate urged.
Zhang Peng had been to Xiushui Restaurant before to meet Qiao Qiao, so he knew the way well. He jogged over in just a couple of minutes. When he told the front desk that he was there for a class reunion, the staff led him directly to the only occupied private room left.
As he pushed open the door, he heard the crowd inside chanting, “Accept him—Accept him—”
Qiao Qiao was sitting right across from the door, supporting his head with one hand, clearly a bit drunk. In front of him, an alpha was kneeling on one knee, holding up a ring as if proposing.
Zhang Peng silently paused, already feeling sorry for this alpha.
Sure enough, the next second, Qiao Qiao picked up the teacup in front of him and splashed it right in the alpha’s face.
The alpha, named Luo Xuan, didn’t get angry. He casually wiped the water from his eyelids and kept smiling. “I know you’re upset with me.”
His tone was suggestive, as if saying, Our story isn’t over yet.
Qiao Qiao might have been working off his buzz, but that didn’t mean his combat power was weak. He set down the teacup, picked up the dinner knife, and twirled it skillfully.
The classmates who had been egging him on fell silent, frozen in fear.
Someone whispered, “Dude, just let it go.”
With a sharp thud, Qiao Qiao stabbed the knife into the table.
The handle quivered, reflecting the cold light.
Luo Xuan broke out in a cold sweat, stammering, “Xiao Qiao, you’re still so… unique.”
“You think I’m threatening you with a weapon? No.” Qiao Qiao smiled. “You want to go to heaven, but I’m not willing to dirty my hands.”
Luo Xuan’s expression shifted, but he forced himself to continue his sweet talk. “Xiao Qiao, you’re so cute, always joking around.”
Qiao Qiao shook his head. “You don’t seem to realize whose man you’ve angered.”
Zhang Peng smiled knowingly and released his pheromones.
Everyone in the room suddenly found it hard to breathe under the overwhelming pressure of an alpha’s pheromones.
Was Luo Xuan the one who was angry? No, Luo Xuan’s pheromones didn’t have this much intensity.
Everyone looked around in confusion, their eyes landing on the source of the pheromones—at the doorway to the private room.
“Who are you?” The kneeling alpha stood up and glared at Zhang Peng, his own pheromones laced with challenge. “I’m Luo Xuan, brother of Wei Ning, chairman of the Wei Group. Who the hell are you?”
Zhang Peng smiled slightly and said, “I’ve heard a lot about you.” His words were polite, but his pheromones were anything but. The scent of cola, now tinged with cherry due to his mood, was so overpowering that everyone in the room turned pale.
Especially Luo Xuan, an alpha, who was particularly sensitive to pheromones. In the face of Zhang Peng’s pheromones, he found himself unable to resist, forced to retreat.
Zhang Peng stepped into the private room. “I’m here to take Qiao Qiao home. He’s drunk. You all continue.”
“Peng Peng!” Qiao Qiao cried out, leaping into Zhang Peng’s arms like a butterfly.
As Zhang Peng slightly reined in his pheromones, everyone else finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, Luo Xuan, who had directly faced the cherry cola scent, was visibly shaken and unsteady on his feet.
Qiao Qiao nestled in Zhang Peng’s arms, feeling more at ease with his man backing him up than if he had taken matters into his own hands.
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