Chapter 14#
Being Your Sugar Daddy#
Zhen Ye felt something was very wrong.
Chen Kangshi didn’t seem like the type of person who would write a note like that.
They had a blatant contractual relationship—pure monetary transaction. According to the contract terms, if he later breached the agreement, the money could be taken back.
Chen Kangshi wouldn’t write a note saying “voluntary gift” and legally hand over a million yuan for free.
So could it be that someone transferred money to him by mistake?
That didn’t make sense either.
The note contained his name, so the sender definitely knew this was his bank account.
Zhen Ye was extremely conflicted, an anxious feeling creeping into his heart. After all, it was such a large sum—he couldn’t leave the source unclear.
He opened his banking app, applied for an electronic statement, and planned to look up the transferor’s information.
Zhen Ye stopped eating, operating his phone right there in the cafeteria. The steps were quite complicated and took some time, which made Cheng Zhiran, sitting across from him, raise an eyebrow curiously:
“What are you doing? Not eating your food, who are you replying to?”
“Nothing…” Zhen Ye stared at the screen. “Just checking who transferred me money.”
The interface flickered, and the information loaded.
When Zhen Ye saw those two characters, his heart suddenly jumped.
Rong Yu.
Wait… no…
It couldn’t be because he’d mentioned the million yuan to him through the door this morning.
And the other party just… transferred him the money?
No.
…Bro, are you for real!?
Zhen Ye could barely hold it together. His first reaction was that this wouldn’t do—this was too absurd. How could a person be controlled by hormones to this extent? He had to return the money.
His heart was racing.
But his expression slipped a little.
Cheng Zhiran had grown up with him since childhood. Even if they hadn’t seen each other for a few years, he was still familiar with Zhen Ye’s little expressions. He propped his chin on his hand, speaking in a knowing tone: “Smiling that happily—so who is this person? Spill it.”
Zhen Ye was stunned. “Huh?”
Was he smiling?
He touched his own face—the corners of his mouth did seem to be curled up slightly.
Then he quickly recovered, realizing his childhood friend seemed to have misunderstood. “It’s nothing, no ‘who this’ or ‘who that.’ Just a mix-up, that’s all.”
Zhen Ye picked up his small bowl, took a sip of the free seaweed and egg drop soup from the cafeteria, and tried to describe in a calm tone how he had met Mr. Rong to Cheng Zhiran.
Of course, he left out the part about signing a contract with the Chen family. He was afraid that the hot-tempered Cheng Zhiran would jump up right there in the cafeteria.
But Cheng Zhiran still jumped up dramatically anyway—
“Whoa! You marked an alpha?!”
His second sentence was: “And he silently transferred you money without a word—he’s trying to be your sugar daddy!”
Zhen Ye: “…???”
·
After dinner, taking advantage of the warm weather, they took a stroll around Mao University.
The new campus was thoughtfully designed, using the main library as the central axis, dividing the campus into left and right wings. In the middle, modeled after an ancient Greek open-air theater, was a terraced little plaza.
It was close to the school’s east gate, and quite a few students were carrying snacks back, sitting down right on the steps to eat.
Zhen Ye and Cheng Zhiran got tired from walking and sat down in a higher spot too.
All the way there, Zhen Ye had been clarifying to Cheng Zhiran that he and Mr. Rong were not in that kind of relationship.
He hadn’t even seen the man’s face—the other party’s “favor” was just his brain being controlled by chemical reactions.
Cheng Zhiran shrugged: “Honestly, I think you might as well just go with it and get to know him. No matter how strong the hormonal reaction is, it can’t change a person’s character—at most it amplifies it.”
“If he was willing to help you, that means he’s a responsible person in daily life too. Old-school alphas like that are hard to find these days.”
Zhen Ye was noncommittal, only deflecting: “We’ll see.”
Cheng Zhiran still wouldn’t give up. “So the money—are you really going to return it?”
Of course he was.
But immediately, Zhen Ye thought: what about his grandmother’s treatment costs? This million was given by Mr. Rong—what about Chen Kangshi’s money?
Judging by how hostile Chen Kangshi had sounded, he probably would drag things out for another couple of days.
An invisible pressure slowly seeped into his organs. Zhen Ye feared nothing more than unresolved matters being dragged out indefinitely.
It made him restless and uneasy.
Zhen Ye stood up, taking two deep breaths, trying to suppress that jittery feeling in his chest from his disrupted nerves.
He did his best to banish stray thoughts and looked into the distance. Outside the grand east gate of the school, a team of people in camouflage uniforms was pushing luggage carts, marching in with great fanfare.
When the camouflage-uniformed group approached, Zhen Ye blinked and made out the banner the leader was holding: [Isolation Zone Volunteer Program—Mao University, Fourth Cohort].
So these were volunteers sent by various departments to support the isolation belt.
As they passed in front of the plaza, many people put down their chicken strips to shout and whistle at them, welcoming them back in honor.
After all, the isolation belt was fraught with danger—spore infections broke out from time to time. Not everyone had the courage to go.
Zhen Ye watched them, slightly lost in thought, and somehow found himself thinking of his mother.
Zhen Yi had joined teams like this when she was young.
And Zhen Yi had also graduated from Mao University.
Mao University was top 3 in the country. Zhen Ye had always wanted to get in; his original first choice had been here.
It was just that his father, He Yusheng, wouldn’t allow it.
Ever since this man married into the Zhen family, he felt he had lost his masculine vigor and began to secretly resent his wife. When he discovered that Zhen Ye, who had never obeyed him, also wanted to follow in his ex-wife’s footsteps, his fragile self-esteem exploded all at once.
He forbade Zhen Ye from attending his dream school, even though Zhen Ye’s scores at the time far exceeded the admission cutoff.
Yet two years later, he donated three million yuan to the school to get He Junhua in.
All of this was just to get back at his dead ex-wife, just to satisfy his need for control.
Zhen Ye found it utterly disgusting.
By now it was getting dark. As the sun’s heat dissipated, the cold air reasserted its dominance.
Zhen Ye and Cheng Zhiran descended the steps when a sudden commotion broke out ahead.
A spotless white sports car drove up gracefully, coming from the opposite direction and scattering the camouflage-uniformed volunteer team.
People had no choice but to part and stand on both sides of the road, letting the Porsche 911 pass.
Among all the dust-covered uniforms, the pure white sports car looked exceptionally immaculate.
It was He Junhua’s car.
“Damn, it’s that car again.” Cheng Zhiran sounded displeased.
Zhen Ye didn’t respond. His gaze followed the streak of white until it drove out the east gate, then slowly turned back: “Has he caused trouble?”
Cheng Zhiran didn’t live in the faculty apartments on campus, but had rented a place in the neighborhood near the university town instead. According to him, he’d seen this car recklessly speeding around more than once—not yielding to pedestrians, and once nearly hitting an old lady who was selling vegetables in the evening.
Cheng Zhiran thought back: “He seems to be friends with the owner of that bar on the street. Anyway, I see this car parked outside all the time, with a bunch of people following it to take photos.”
Zhen Ye listened quietly, then after a moment of thought, asked: “Where exactly is that bar?”
Cheng Zhiran told him the location, and noticed how detailed his questioning was: “Why, do you know the car owner?”
Zhen Ye noted the bar’s name on his phone, the light of the screen reflected in his eyes, burning like hidden flames.
He calmly locked the screen, a plan already forming in his mind:
“Don’t know him.”
·
The next morning, after finishing his class with his language students, Zhen Ye headed to the hospital.
He took the note the doctor had given him yesterday and found Dr. Shen in the inpatient department.
When they met, Zhen Ye discovered that Shen Yubai, this chief physician, was surprisingly young—especially compared to the staggering list of titles and achievements that followed his name.
Dr. Shen was very busy, having just finished surgery. He drank a sip of water before sitting down to talk with Zhen Ye.
They finalized the treatment plan and approximate surgery time, and Dr. Shen gestured for Zhen Ye to go pay the fees.
The payment desk said that since organ cloning hadn’t yet been covered by medical insurance, the full amount had to be paid in advance.
“That’ll be 1,002,300 yuan in total. Overpayments will be refunded, additional charges will be billed.”
Zhen Ye held his bank card in his hand, his hand hovering over the card reader, unable to lower it.
This million wasn’t his.
“Sir, is your balance insufficient? You can come back and pay tomorrow—”
“Beep!”
Zhen Ye closed his eyes and swiped the card anyway. He entered his PIN in one smooth motion, as if afraid he’d change his mind.
Forget it.
He thought, forget it. Debts don’t weigh down a man. If Mr. Rong came asking for the money later, he’d pay him back with Chen Kangshi’s portion.
Worst case scenario, Chen Kangshi refused to pay—then Mr. Rong would become his new creditor.
One more creditor wouldn’t make a difference; one fewer wouldn’t either.
Having made up his mind, the stone weighing on Zhen Ye’s heart loosened considerably. He put away the payment receipt and called his grandmother to let her know.
Hearing the delighted surprise in his grandmother’s voice, Zhen Ye felt like everything was worth it.
But regarding where the money had come from, he had no choice but to tell a lie.
Zhen Ye said: “Grandma, you got lucky—you happened to be selected for their hospital’s experimental program. All treatment is free.”
He didn’t notice that Dr. Shen had just come out of the elevator and passed by him.
Hearing the words “treatment is free,” Shen Yubai’s footsteps paused almost imperceptibly.
He turned his head, his gaze falling on the young man’s slender, focused silhouette.
The bright ceiling lights of the lobby outlined the lines of the young man’s jaw, and Shen Yubai’s heart stirred suddenly.
He hadn’t paid attention earlier, but now that he looked—how come this omega looked so much like the person in the He family photo that Uncle Rong had been looking at that day?
That same afternoon, Shen Yubai drove to Yuelai Mountain Villa to check on Rong Yu’s condition.
After the pleasantries, he casually mentioned: “Met an interesting patient’s family member today. Surname Zhen.”
Rong Yu’s long fingers pressed against his forehead paused slightly, then he lifted his eyes.