Chapter 44: Gu Xiujue
The military headquarters was a place saturated with Alpha pheromones.
There were absolutely no Omegas here, because no Omega could survive in this environment. They would be heavily affected by Alpha pheromones.
At best, they’d experience flushing, rapid heartbeat, and weakness throughout their body. At worst, they’d immediately go into heat and enter an irrational state of waiting to be bonded.
So the military had always forbidden Omegas from setting foot inside. This was for the safety of Omegas, and for the safety of Alphas as well. Alphas would fight each other to the death over an Omega in heat, completely losing their minds under that scent.
Given that Omegas were scarce across the stars, outstanding Betas were also targets Alphas would favor.
Before Gu Xiujue lost his reproductive ability, his suitors were still few. No Alpha wanted a partner stronger than himself, and besides, Gu Xiujue had gotten engaged to Huo Leishao at 22.
All his romantic experience was just this one period with the scumbag top. Actually, it wasn’t even proper affection.
He came out with his hair still wet and found Huo Leishao sitting in his office as if he owned the place, lounging at ease.
“Major General Hansen, did you lose your way and end up on the wrong turf?” Gu Xiujue said. He wore a fresh shirt, buttons casually fastened two or three up, his jacket and cap hooked over his arm.
“Xiu?” Huo Leishao stared at him in disbelief, then gave a self-deprecating smile. “I got dumped by an Omega, and now even you are here to mock me?” Lately he had become a laughingstock in high society over the broken engagement.
“What does your being dumped by an Omega have to do with me?” Gu Xiujue walked to the chair in front, tossed his things on the table, and sat. “Do I have any right to mock you?” As someone who had also been rejected, he had no standing to laugh at anyone.
“I am sorry, Xiu. I did not handle things between us well.” Huo Leishao said it plainly. He could accept the family’s decision to dissolve the engagement, but there had been no need to broadcast Gu Xiujue’s loss of fertility or use it as the official reason. That had been going too far.
“And then?” Gu Xiujue asked as he calmly did up his buttons. “Are you going to say you still like me, only you cannot be with me because of family pressure?”
“That is the truth,” Huo Leishao shrugged.
Gu Xiujue let out a cold laugh. “Why don’t you just drop dead?”
He popped open a small can of liquor with a steady, detached air. He gestured with it toward Huo Leishao. When the other man declined with a wave, he took a drink himself.
“Xiu.” Huo Leishao looked at the captivating young man before him, his smile tinged with temptation. “Do you know what happens when an Alpha meets an Omega in heat?” He did not need Gu Xiujue’s answer, since he knew better than anyone. “He turns into a mindless lunatic with nothing but desire in his eyes. That is the tragedy of Alphas.”
“If I could choose, I would rather be a Beta like you,” Huo Leishao said, smile fading into a bleak expression. “No pheromonal shackles, no constraints. Maybe then we could have been together without fear.”
Gu Xiujue said nothing and drank. His alluring black eyes were lowered. The wet black hair against his fair, handsome face made a striking contrast. Other than being a Beta, he lacked none of an Omega’s charm.
It was a pity he was too strong willed and had chosen to sacrifice his fertility for missions and rank.
Sometimes Huo Leishao wished his partner could be a little softer, someone who stirred his protective instincts, not someone like Gu Xiujue who never cared to fawn or play gentle.
“My family will keep looking for an Omega for me. That cannot change,” Huo Leishao said. “But you know I do not love them.” He reached across the desk, trying to take Gu Xiujue’s hand. “Xiu, the one I love is you. No Omega can compare to your allure.”
Gu Xiujue drew his hand back. “You are lying to me,” he said coolly.
He had not forgotten what that Omega had said last night. Huo Leishao truly was selfish to a shocking degree.
“What did you say, I am lying?” Huo Leishao’s eyes sharpened. “We fought side by side for three years. You saved me, I saved you. We are brothers who share life and death.” He stood, came around to Gu Xiujue’s side, and braced his hands on his shoulders. “Xiu, what I did hurt you, but you have to understand. We are loyal to the Empire, loyal to our families, and only then loyal to ourselves. That is fate.”
If one chose only to be loyal to one’s own feelings, cast everything aside, abandon family and honor, that would be selfish. That would make one a sinner for the ages.
“I do not want to force you, because I cannot bear to see you upset,” Huo Leishao said. He bent and brushed a kiss on Gu Xiujue’s black hair. “Xiu, you will always be the one I love the most.”
Gu Xiujue lifted his head and met his first love’s eyes for a moment, then knocked the man’s hands away. “You do not want to fail the Empire or your family. You do not want to fail your future Omega either. So let us leave it at that.” He turned aside, took another drink, and vented his frustration.
“I will give you time,” Huo Leishao said. “You need time to accept all this.”
The man who kept saying he loved him left the office and immediately opened his personal terminal to contact the Omega who had called off the engagement.
“Hi, baby. How are you feeling today?” He could not believe an Omega who had seemed satisfied with him suddenly lost interest for no reason. There had to be one.
“Mm… Major General Huo Leishao, do you know how to block someone?” Li Dong asked.
“??” Huo Leishao blinked. Huh?
The major general exuded the pure aura of a dense, straight man. Li Dong actually felt a little bad about blocking him so bluntly.
“Do you know Major General Gu Xiujue’s address?” he asked.
“I do.” An Alpha would never refuse an Omega’s request. Huo Leishao sent Gu Xiujue’s address immediately, then belatedly asked, “What do you want Xiu’s address for?”
“I want to get along with him,” Li Dong replied. “I am still sorry about before.” Other than Huo Leishao, no one else in this world probably knew Gu Xiujue so well, so he seized the chance. “Do you know what he likes to eat? What is his daily routine like?”
“Xiu likes ancient Earth cuisine,” Huo Leishao answered. “As for routine, blah blah blah…” He rattled off details.
Li Dong took notes as he read, and whenever something was unclear, he asked follow-ups. “Oh, so that is it. Thank you so much, Major General Huo Leishao.”
“You are welcome. When shall we meet for a meal, my treat?”
“…” Li Dong fell silent. An Omega going out alone to dine with an Alpha was basically delivering himself on a platter. “No, my class schedule is packed. I do not have time.”
“All right,” Huo Leishao said. “Tell me when you do.” He was convinced the Omega was just playing hard to get.
No matter, he had patience.
Once Li Dong had a very thorough set of notes, he shook his head and blocked the scummy gong.
Then a question nagged at him. Gu Xiujue would block him for a while, then unblock him, then block him again. That attitude was suspicious.
In the original book, the male lead Gu Xiujue detested Omegas. He looked down on them completely. In his mind, Omegas were a bunch of rice weevils who could do nothing but have children.
Li “Rice Weevil” Dong circled “likes ancient Earth cuisine” in his notes and thought about whether “ancient Earth” could be translated directly as “China.”
Gu Xiujue looked obviously East Asian. It made sense that he loved Chinese food.
He could not help grumbling about the R-Star palate. Their so-called culinary “technique” was to make food nutritious, pretty, and convenient to eat. Flavor came second.
Having lived two lives, Li Dong felt that even a simple egg fried rice he made could wipe the floor with interstellar master chefs.
He closed his notebook, slung Mother Chu’s usual market basket over his arm, and headed out to buy groceries.
R-Star citizens were easy to please taste-wise, but their markets offered an incredible variety of ingredients.
Li Dong didn’t recognize these strange ingredients. He searched online while looking. After all, the original Chu Huanyan was a noble young master who never did any housework. He always skipped his cooking classes.
“Major General Gu, do you have kitchenware at home?” he typed. People on R-Star lived well. Everyone had big houses and kept smart robots. Logically, the male lead should have a kitchen.
Wait, the message f*cking sent again?
“What is it?” came Gu Xiujue’s reply.
At last, Li Dong admitted to himself that the man’s tendency toward pretentious on-again off-again blocking was very real and very consistent.
“You know I have been taking cooking classes,” Li Dong messaged as Chu Huanyan. “But I do not want to practice at home. I want to surprise my family, so…”
“No,” Gu Xiujue replied.
“Great, settled then. I will be at your place in twenty minutes,” Li Dong said.
He was still in the checkout line, waiting with his basket. The person in front of him was also an Omega.
Omegas outside during non-heat periods, or those who were married, were not in as much danger as one might imagine. Public safety was quite good, and people were conscientious about caring for the most delicate group in the stars.
Being stared at, however, was unavoidable, especially for an attractive unmarried Omega. It was like a diamond dropped on the ground. Everyone wanted to pick it up and pocket it.
In just a few minutes of waiting, Li Dong counted two or three Alphas itching to come over and strike up a conversation.
They did not dare, since they valued their lives. On R-Star, an Omega could sue at will. Take Major General Gu, who had been accused of attempted assault earlier. If not for that last-minute reversal, he would already have been GG.
“I did not agree,” came another message from Gu Xiujue.
“Give up that idea. I do not host Omegas here,” he sent immediately after. Two rapid messages showed how alarmed he was.
“Hey, Major General Gu, what are you worried about?” Li Dong wrote. “An Omega is not going to eat you. We do not have that ability.” Except those naturally born to devour people.
Twenty minutes later, ignoring Gu Xiujue’s protests, Li Dong stood at his door with a basket full of ingredients, seasonings, and more, and rang the bell.
Gu Xiujue’s quantum beast, a black panther, prowled over to the door and paced twice. Its eyes fixed on its master pretending to play dead nearby.
“Rr…” Why refuse a pretty Omega? He did not seem like a bad person. He was even cute and clingy.
Gu Xiujue turned his back on his quantum beast. His whole body radiated heavy low pressure because Omegas were annoying. A clingy Omega was even worse. Now that clingy, annoying Omega had come to his door.
A quantum beast reflected its master’s inner world with brutal honesty. When the two were at odds, it meant the person could not accept his own heart and was fighting a fierce battle in his head.
“You finally opened the door?” Li Dong’s finger hurt from pressing the bell. He looked up at the cold-faced male lead. Looked up, and up. His heart ached.
His happy smile twisted for a second.
This absurdly handsome height had to be at least one meter ninety-eight. With a gray-blue uniform, the male lead’s long legs and slim waist were even more striking. His aura was dangerously attractive.
“I do not want to host you,” the man said, lips moving above Li Dong’s line of sight. He lowered those deep eyes. “Do not do things that cause misunderstandings. Omega, you should not be here.”
“Why, do you really hate me that much?” Li Dong frowned. He was not playing the pitiful card. His tone was straightforward, like a tough guy, but the man was too tall. As soon as Li Dong raised his head and opened his mouth, his bright eyes automatically slipped into flirt mode.
“Yes, I do,” Gu Xiujue said. He waited for the Omega to burst into tears and then hate him, so he would stop pestering him.
“Is it because I am an Omega? Do you prefer strong Alphas?” Li Dong felt a little deflated. He had known from the start that inhabiting an Omega meant he should quit dreaming about conquering the world and conquering the male lead, but hearing the male lead say he hated him still stung.
“Hate is hate. Does the cause matter?” Gu Xiujue stood patiently in the doorway, eyes fixed on Li Dong’s face. Cry already. Why was he not crying?
“Major General Gu, I heard you like ancient Earth cuisine,” Li Dong said suddenly, lifting the basket. “I can make it. How about this. I will cook for you once. If you think it tastes bad, I promise not to bother you again.”
A pretty, clingy, talkative Omega who could cook, volunteering to make a meal for a Beta who had no one. Gu Xiujue suspected this Omega had a screw loose. On R-Star, such a gesture was a sign of courting, a willingness to bond.
Ridiculous. An excellent Omega courting a Beta with a damaged body.
Once inside, Li Dong smiled. “Thank you. Your home is spacious and very tidy.” The décor was simple and crisp. It looked like a single man’s place.
“The kitchen is this way,” Gu Xiujue said, leading him straight there. “Help yourself.”
“Thank you.” Li Dong looked around and was surprised. This was a fully equipped kitchen that clearly saw regular use.
He set the basket down and went to find Gu Xiujue to ask about taste preferences, only to discover the man was gone.
“Major General Gu?” Li Dong called as he walked, then jumped when a panther lay in wait by the door.
It was a sleek black panther with a long build and glossy fur.
Everyone here had a quantum beast. Li Dong had one too, a white cat that liked to hide for naps.
Quantum beasts liked to hide and observe. They usually did not show up in front of strangers.
Faced with this panther sprawled in the doorway as if it owned the place, Li Dong felt looked down on. Did an Omega pose no threat at all, not even enough to warrant a little vigilance?
That was indeed the case. Li Dong’s knee twinged again.
“Hi, hi.” He crouched and patted the panther’s paw. Quantum beasts reflected their master’s heart. If this predator was cold to him, he would grudgingly accept that the male lead truly hated him.
The result spoke for itself. The panther narrowed its eyes, and the long, thick tail gave a gentle swish or two.
Liar. A mouth says no, a body says yes, liar.
Li Dong stood and dusted his hands. He figured there was no need to ask about taste anymore. Even if he served poison, the man might eat it with relish. How shamelessly confident.
He cooked a proper Chinese-style meal, a table of dishes without rice, with soup.
There were chicken wings, seafood, roasted lamb ribs, hongshao pork, and a century-old Li-family vegetable and meatball soup to cut the richness.
The aroma drifted out of the kitchen in waves.
Gu Xiujue dropped what he was working on and slumped into a chair, eyes unfocused.
“Major General Gu.” Li Dong knocked and poked his head in. “Dinner is ready. Come wash your hands and eat.”
That voice finally called Gu Xiujue back from wherever he had drifted. “Mm.” Feeling overheated, he unbuttoned his jacket. In a room temperature of around fifteen degrees Celsius, he wore only a shirt.
In the fragrant air there was a separate sweetness, faint but more pleasing than any scent he had ever inhaled.
He walked to the dining area, footsteps in sync with his heartbeat.
The Omega was busy by the table. The black panther stood guard nearby, those greedy eyes circling someone in particular.
Gu Xiujue flashed it a warning look, then sat down, distracted.
“Let me introduce the dishes,” Li Dong said. “These are roasted lamb ribs with a little cumin. I do not know if you like that flavor.” He pointed. “This is hongshao pork. These are wings. Start with soup.” Looking at the spread he had made, he felt a rush of satisfaction.
After he met Guan Yaoming in his previous life, his cooking had improved quickly. The happiest thing back then had been drinking from little bowls and eating from big plates with his lover. No matter how badly he cooked at first, the big boss always thanked him and said it was good. Being able to eat food made by the person he loved made life sweet, no matter how bitter it was.
Only later did Li Dong understand how heavy that single line “values feelings” was as praise for Guan Yaoming in the original work.
At the most inconvenient moment, he found himself thinking of the lover who now slept forever.
“Major General Gu, do you have any wine?”
Gu Xiujue reluctantly fetched some. Li Dong poured two glasses with practiced ease and smiled. “Come on, to celebrate us becoming friends.”
Gu Xiujue raised his glass and almost crushed it in his hand. Friends, was it.
“The alcohol content is a little low,” Li Dong said. He was a seasoned drinker used to high-proof liquor, so this tasted like water. He had clearly forgotten he now had an Omega’s body.
As usual, Gu Xiujue drank coolly, then picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.
In his eyes, the food looked good and smelled good. Eating it proved that it tasted good.
Six wings, finished. Ten pieces of lamb rib, finished. Six chunks of hongshao pork, finished. A bowl of seafood, finished. The meatball vegetable soup, finished.
“Major General Gu… did I not cook enough?” Li Dong asked. He swore he had portioned it for two grown men. He had eaten maybe a fifth.
Gu Xiujue stared at the empty plates and the chopsticks still raised in his hand. He pulled his hand back, suddenly feeling awkward, then fell silent again.
“Does my cooking taste good?” Li Dong looked straight at him, a touch of pride at the corner of his mouth, though his eyes were gentle.
“You do not need cooking practice,” Gu Xiujue said. He set down his chopsticks. Calm eyes hid a soft doubt. “Tell me your aim.”
Someone with skills that good had come here under the pretense of practice. He did not believe there was no ulterior motive.
“Please do not misunderstand, Major General. I mean no harm.” Li Dong lifted his glass again under the logic that even weak wine still counts as wine. He drank and said, “Just think of me as bored and wanting to spend some time with you.”
“I have no obligation to keep you company,” Gu Xiujue said. “You can find someone else.” Plenty would risk life and limb for a pretty Omega. He was not one of them.
“Be fair, though. Do you really dislike seeing me?” Li Dong glanced at the black panther lying in the distance on watch. He thought that seemed unlikely.
While waiting for an answer, he downed one, two, three, four small glasses.
“You…” Gu Xiujue parted his lips, then closed them again. Lack of experience hampered his tongue. In the end he simply reached out and took the glass from Li Dong.
Their fingers brushed inevitably. Li Dong felt the coolness of his skin, while he gave the other man a burning heat.
Clatter. The glass hit the floor with a jolt.
The remaining half glass splashed across Li Dong’s clothes.
“I am very sorry,” Gu Xiujue said in a low voice. He had grabbed for the cup and failed to hold it steady.
“It is fine.” Li Dong patted at the wet marks on his jacket and murmured, “I feel a little dizzy, and a bit hot…” That sounded like being tipsy, but with such a weak drink, how could that be. Then his heart started pounding. “...Great.”
“You are drunk,” Gu Xiujue said, watching him with wary eyes. A drunk Omega was frightening.
“A little, yes. Can I lie on your sofa for a bit?” Li Dong stood up and his slim frame swayed.
Gu Xiujue moved fast and caught him, anxious hands steadying the Omega but not daring to use force. Everyone knew Omegas were fragile, their skin bruised at a touch.
Dimly, Li Dong realized Gu Xiujue had caught him. He looped his arms around the man’s neck. “Thank you. Could you help me to the sofa? I am not feeling great…”
A sweet scent hit the tip of Gu Xiujue’s nose. He smelled a sugary thread rising from Li Dong’s body.
Very good. This was an Omega in heat.
His expression collapsed like an avalanche. He scooped Li Dong up and carried him into his bedroom, then locked the door.
The agitated black panther stood guard outside. It watched its master rushing about, flustered, locking door and windows and shutting every potential way in.
On the way to the last latch, Gu Xiujue tripped over a chair. His own clumsiness exhausted him.
Omega meant trouble.
An Omega in heat could torment a man to death.
Sweat rolled down in big drops over Gu Xiujue’s fair skin.
A strong Beta did not respond to Omega pheromones as violently as an Alpha did, but there was still an effect. Close contact with an Omega in heat could stir the impulse to bond.
He used the book at the protagonist’s bedside like a fan to cool himself, because it was too f*cking hot. His whole body’s skin felt like it was burning.
This was actually not a full heat, but the alcohol had triggered a prelude.
That was why Omegas nearing maturity should not drink casually unless they already had an Alpha they liked on hand and were ready to bond any time.
“Meow…” A white cat appeared in the room and began pacing around his feet, restless and anxious.
The black panther outside stared at the door without moving a muscle, self-control iron-tight.
“I cannot take it anymore.,” Li Dong muttered. He was unbearably hot. He opened the door, planning to borrow the bathroom for a cold shower.
The white cat followed at his heels. The moment it appeared, the panther’s muscles went steel-taut and its fur bristled.
“Meow?” The cat padded toward the panther on soft pink beans.
“Rr…” The big cat backed up step by step with warning growls. When it had nowhere left to go, it tucked its tail and fled to its master’s side, watching from cover.
From the moment Li Dong came out, Gu Xiujue’s whole body went rigid. His reaction mirrored the panther’s. He only wanted to keep far away from this Omega and his quantum beast.
“Major General Gu, may I use your shower?” Li Dong fanned his collar, drenched in sweat and breathing lightly.
“…Second door to your left,” Gu Xiujue said.
He watched Li Dong go in, scrubbed a hand over his face, then forced himself to keep searching. What should you do when an Omega is in heat?
Result A: Mark him and make him your Omega.
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