Chapter 4#

No. 4 chapter#

Ji Liao had a preliminary plan.

He would start from the very place where the plot first deviated.

He needed to get Wen Qiu to sleep with him.

As for how to make Wen Qiu sleep with him…

Ha, he was the stand-in after all!

A stand-in needed to have the awareness of a stand-in. Everything else was secondary—his first priority was to be “like Lou Yue.”

Time to study the protagonist Omega!

With a clear direction in mind, Ji Liao could finally focus on other things.

He had promised to make Wen Qiu dinner, so he needed to prepare.

He grabbed his keys and headed out.

It was time to explore this world.

Wen Qiu had meetings the moment he arrived at the company in the morning. His head was stuffed with partnership proposals, project progress reports, business data—before he could even catch his breath, he ran into Lü Hongda in his office.

Lü Hongda was his father.

Wen Qiu took his mother’s surname.

“Dad.”

Wen Qiu acknowledged him with a single word, then signaled his assistant to clear the room with his eyes.

Zhang Nan understood immediately. He quietly withdrew and closed the door.

Lü Hongda sat by the desk, pretending not to hear, flipping through the papers on the surface.

Wen Qiu didn’t say another word. He simply walked to his own seat and sat down.

Lü Hongda waited for a long time, only to find that Wen Qiu not only had no intention of speaking, but hadn’t even poured him a glass of water.

His displeasure immediately showed: “Busy, are we?”

“Yes.”

Wen Qiu didn’t feel like dealing with Lü Hongda either. He turned on his computer and started typing away.

Having been through it all once before, he couldn’t be bothered to play games with Lü Hongda anymore.

The person he had once most wanted to protect no longer needed him—so what was there left to fight for?

With his fighting spirit gone, he had no patience left to even deal with the man he hated most.

Lü Hongda saw Wen Qiu’s cold attitude and felt a surge of anger. When he spoke, it was pure reproach:

“How can you just sit there so calmly?”

To outsiders, Wen Qiu’s family situation was somewhat complicated.

The story was an old cliché. Back then, the young miss of the Wen family—Wen Qiu’s Omega mother—had fallen for an alpha father who was destitute but had an extremely high pheromone compatibility with her. She married him against all opposition.

To meet the Wen family’s expectations, their first child took the mother’s surname.

The Wen family had only one daughter. Lü Hongda had real ability—with his wife’s support and the sincerity demonstrated by his child taking the family name, his career skyrocketed, and he soon seized control.

During that time, Wen Qiu’s mother devoted herself to being a good wife and mother, and became pregnant with a second child.

But an accident occurred during the birth of that second child. Not only was the baby lost, but she nearly died as well.

Because of this, Wen Qiu’s mother never recovered. Her health deteriorated steadily. Wen Qiu’s Omega grandmother was so shocked and frightened that she worried herself into illness and passed away early.

Lü Hongda used this crisis to expand his power. The new company he established essentially hollowed out the Wen family’s main corporation. Later, using Wen Qiu’s mother’s inability to bear more children as grounds, he divorced her and remarried.

Wen Qiu’s alpha grandmother was still alive, but she was too old to do anything but leave Wen Qiu in Lü Hongda’s care for his upbringing. In secret, however, she cultivated Wen Qiu herself, teaching and supporting him with great care.

By now, the two families’ business interests were deeply intertwined. Between father and son, almost nothing remained but the nominal relationship that maximized their mutual benefit.

Lü Hongda knew Wen Qiu didn’t see him as a father.

Wen Qiu knew Lü Hongda had never truly seen him as a son.

They both played dumb, maintaining a facade of filial piety and paternal kindness.

Only now, Wen Qiu no longer wanted to pretend.

Lü Hongda wasn’t satisfied with just one sentence. He continued with a sneer:

“The Lou family has climbed up the social ladder, and you’re not worried in the slightest.”

The Lou family and the Lü family had close ties. On the surface, they were old family friends, but behind the scenes, Lü Hongda always looked down on them.

In his view, the Lou couple were mediocre in intelligence, and neither of the younger generation was worth anything:

The adopted son gave up a life of pampered luxury to go sing in the entertainment industry; the biological son was a sickly invalid—if he could just stay alive, that was already a blessing, and he’d never amount to anything big in the future.

A family with no future like that—how dare they latch onto the Meng family?!

Just because of high pheromone compatibility?!

The mere mention of it made Lü Hongda furious, and he started cursing.

The Meng family was far more powerful than both the Lü and Lou families. Securing a connection to the Meng family’s network was like reaching heaven in a single step.

The Lü family wasn’t doing badly now, but Lü Hongda wanted more.

Too bad that stroke of luck hadn’t landed in his pocket—instead, it had gone to the Lou family, who he looked down on.

Wen Qiu listened silently. It was only when Lü Hongda turned the topic to him and told him to go on a blind date that Wen Qiu finally spoke:

“No.”

Lü Hongda’s eyes bulged: “What did you say?!”

Given how deeply Wen Qiu’s interests were intertwined with Lü Hongda’s, now was the moment he should say something to placate him.

And he knew exactly how to placate him too.

Things like “The Lou family just confirmed their marriage alliance—if we rush into blind dates, people will laugh at us,” or “The Lou family doesn’t even value Lou Yue, so her marrying into the Meng family might not be a good thing.” Lü Hongda cared about face, and saying these things would make him calm down.

But Wen Qiu simply couldn’t be bothered to speak.

What was the point of interests and profits? He’d schemed step by step before, and it hadn’t earned him a good ending.

Why bother?

“I said I’m not going.” Wen Qiu was obviously brushing him off. “If there’s nothing else, you should get going. I’m busy.”

“…”

Lü Hongda had never been talked back to like this by Wen Qiu. He was stunned for a moment, and actually forgot to be angry.

After processing for a few seconds, he was about to explode in rage, but then he changed tack:

“I heard you’ve got yourself a college student?”

Wen Qiu’s brow twitched.

He remembered that last time, after arranging the blind date, Lü Hongda had told him to get rid of Ji Liao.

Sure enough, Lü Hongda seemed pleased with himself, as if he’d caught Wen Qiu red-handed: “You’d better stay clear-headed. Your marriage isn’t yours to decide. You know what to do without me spelling it out, right?”

As he spoke, the faint oppressive scent of alpha pheromones filled the office as an implicit warning.

“Ha.”

Wen Qiu couldn’t hold it in anymore. He laughed out loud.

Lü Hongda hadn’t changed one bit—still picking fights over such trivial little things.

How ridiculous.

But Wen Qiu had no patience to engage in pleasantries with Lü Hongda.

Nor did he want to explain that he’d long stopped fearing the pheromone warning game.

So he deliberately drawled: “I understand.”

Lü Hongda didn’t catch the sarcasm in his tone. Victorious, he said:

“I trust you know your limits.”

Then he stood, smoothed down his clothes, and walked out with confidence.

Wen Qiu also stood up—but not to see Lü Hongda off. Instead, he cranked the ventilation system to maximum.

Lü Hongda’s alpha pheromones.

So nauseating.

Ji Liao had spent the whole day exploring.

Although this world was an ABO world, walking through the bustling streets, Ji Liao couldn’t tell who was an A, who was an O, and who was a B.

He was a beta—to him, pheromones were nothing more than a faint scent, practically indistinguishable from perfume.

In his eyes, the streets were still filled with boys and girls.

The restrooms, however, were quite distinctly separated.

There were also some shops along the road that only served A’s or O’s.

Kind of weird, honestly.

For convenience in getting around later, Ji Liao bought a small electric scooter.

Riding his scooter, he wove through streets both big and small, gathering everything he could about Lou Yue.

During this time, he tried again to send Wen Qiu a friend request without success, then sent a text asking what the other man wanted for dinner.

Once again, Wen Qiu didn’t reply.

No matter—fifty thousand!

Unbothered, Ji Liao happily rode his scooter back to the villa.

After two round trips, the beta security guard at the villa district had come to recognize him too.

Ji Liao successfully made it back into the neighborhood.

Wen Qiu hadn’t ordered anything, so he had free rein with dinner.

Stir-fried pork with peppers, mapo tofu, jade fish ball soup, and a refreshing green vegetable—the meal was done in no time.

Wen Qiu happened to arrive home right then.

Facing Wen Qiu again, Ji Liao was much more relaxed than he’d been that morning.

He greeted the man politely: “Welcome home, Mr. Wen.”

Wen Qiu was still as icily aloof as ever. He responded with a single “Mm,” then went straight upstairs.

“?”

Ji Liao stood there and waited for a while, but Wen Qiu never came back down to eat.

Did this mean he was supposed to bring the food up?

Ji Liao had never worked as a housekeeper, so he didn’t know this workflow.

After some thought, he decided to kill two birds with one stone.

He went back to his room, took a shower, and carefully dolled himself up.

Admittedly, the protagonist Omega was somewhat famous—his posters were everywhere on the streets, and some roadside shops were even playing his songs.

But there was very little about his personal life. He didn’t act in dramas or appear on variety shows. If Ji Liao wanted to imitate him, his only options were interviews and similar materials.

This didn’t stump Ji Liao, though.

Earlier today, he had carefully gone through the dressing room. Comparing various photos of Lou Yue online, he’d already discovered the secret.

How could the villain possibly not have a full wardrobe prepared for his stand-in?

The outfit Lou Yue had worn at the airport a few days ago? The same one was hanging right there in the closet.

After getting ready, Ji Liao went back downstairs.

The food was untouched. Wen Qiu hadn’t come out.

Perfect.

Ji Liao packed a fresh portion into a small bowl, arranged it nicely, and carried it upstairs.

Wen Qiu was in the study.

Ji Liao knocked on the door, slightly nervous:

“Mr. Wen.”

“Come in.”

Ji Liao remembered from the original novel that the protagonist, Lou Yue, had a fairly gentle and mild-mannered personality.

Ji Liao had never met a man with a gentle temperament, so he could only pretend to be shy. He opened the door and carefully placed the tray on the desk.

“Mr. Wen, please have dinner.” He continued in his “gentle” voice.

Only after speaking did he slowly lift his gaze.

Wen Qiu really suited a dress shirt—buttons fastened meticulously all the way to the top. He wondered what it would look like when Wen Qiu tore off his tie, as written in the original novel…

His wandering thoughts lasted only a moment, because the next second, he met Wen Qiu’s icy stare.

“What are you doing?” Wen Qiu’s voice carried unmistakable anger.

Ji Liao froze.

“Get out!” Wen Qiu barked again.

The tone was too harsh, the disgust practically dripping from it. Ji Liao didn’t understand why, but he realized his boss was furious.

A worker should know their place. Ji Liao turned and left.

Standing outside the door, he was about to close it when Wen Qiu’s voice sounded again.

This time, there was no emotion at all:

“Don’t imitate him anymore.”

The study door swung shut with its own momentum, and Wen Qiu vanished from sight.

A slow “?” rose in Ji Liao’s mind.

Wait, was Wen Qiu crazy or something?

Didn’t Wen Qiu hire a stand-in precisely for cosplay purposes?!

And now he wasn’t allowed to imitate Lou Yue?

For the rest of the night, Ji Liao didn’t see Wen Qiu again.

Before going to sleep, Ji Liao went over the plot. The villain was blindly protective of the protagonist—there was no rift between them.

Wen Qiu’s anger shouldn’t have been from a fight with Lou Yue.

Could it be that his imitation wasn’t good enough?

That shouldn’t be the case either.

In the original novel, every time the villain slept with the stand-in, he made the stand-in wear the protagonist’s same outfit.

Ji Liao couldn’t figure it out. All he knew was that his plan had failed.

Difficulty of correcting the plot: +1

Ji Liao almost couldn’t sleep.

He finally dozed off, only to wake up early again.

A worker can’t get discouraged!

For the sake of fifty thousand!

When Wen Qiu woke up in the morning, he thought:

He’d been too harsh with Ji Liao last night.

He was just fed up with Lü Hongda’s visit.

Taking it out on Ji Liao had been wrong.

And then he saw Ji Liao downstairs, busily at work.

Acting like nothing had happened.

“Good morning, Mr. Wen!”

Ji Liao showed not a trace of resentment, greeting him with warm enthusiasm:

“The vegetable porridge is at just the right temperature. You can eat now.”

Wen Qiu: “…”

Had Ji Liao always been this easygoing?

He couldn’t remember.

Ji Liao had changed back into his sportswear. Seeing that Wen Qiu wasn’t speaking, he said sincerely:

“I’m sorry about yesterday, Mr. Wen. I was in the wrong. From now on, I’ll strictly follow your requirements.”

Wen Qiu was paying him far too much. Apologizing was nothing—he could even kowtow to the man if it meant keeping his job.

But Wen Qiu set down his spoon.

To him, this vivid, lively Ji Liao felt real for the first time.

Lü Hongda told him not to keep Ji Liao.

Well, he’d keep him anyway.

So he said: “Don’t wear the clothes in the dressing room anymore.”

Keeping Ji Liao was one thing, but he didn’t want to see Lou Yue through him anymore.

Ji Liao didn’t understand what Wen Qiu had against the clothes, but he still said: “Okay.”

Then he saw Wen Qiu pick up his phone, and a moment later, Ji Liao’s own phone buzzed.

He took it out and looked—Ji Liao’s breath caught.

500k?!

Wen Qiu had transferred him another 500k!

“Buy yourself something you like.”

Wen Qiu’s tone was cold and detached, as if commenting on something utterly trivial.

He added one more thing at the end:

“Ask for more if that’s not enough.”

Ji Liao: !!!

Truly his god!

Wen Qiu ignored Ji Liao. After finishing his meal, he picked up his black coffee and stood to leave.

Ji Liao was dizzied by the joy. He was a beat slow, then hurriedly followed.

He could get 500k for being scolded a little? Then scold him some more!

Though that’s what he was thinking, Ji Liao restrained his excitement and said ingratiatingly:

“Will you be home for dinner tonight, Mr. Wen? What would you like? I’ll cook for you again!”

He had to do something, or he’d feel guilty taking the money!

Naturally, Wen Qiu could sense the shift in Ji Liao’s mood. The problem had been neatly resolved, and he was satisfied.

Then, unconsciously, he became more generous, casually agreeing to Ji Liao’s suggestion:

“Surprise me.”

“You got it—I’ll make sure you’re satisfied!”

Ji Liao stood at the garage entrance, watching Wen Qiu get into his car with eager attentiveness.