The hospital witnessed its second miracle.
Within just one month, the hospital successfully treated two patients injected with the Secondary Gender Transformation Serum an unprecedented achievement in history. After all, those who claimed the serum could truly induce secondary differentiation had only existed in the vague realms of the internet.
No one had ever seen a real case.
These two cases reduced the serum’s mortality rate from 100% to 99% statistically speaking, at least.
Two people stood guard outside the ward, taking shifts under Pei Ningyu’s orders to watch over Fu Chu without pause. Upon seeing Pei Ningyu arrive, they immediately bowed their heads in deference.
“Has he woken up?”
One of them glanced inside the ward and confirmed, “He has.”
When Pei Ningyu entered, Fu Chu was fiddling with the lilies by his bedside. He was always someone who could execute even the most intricate etiquette flawlessly, yet at the sight of Pei Ningyu, his brows furrowed slightly. “What happened to your face?”
Pei Ningyu instinctively wanted to avoid Fu Chu’s hand as it reached toward his face. But after a brief hesitation, he allowed it he needed to readjust to their new dynamic and ensure Fu Chu understood his current status.
After all, they were no longer equals or rivals. From now on, their relationship would be strictly defined by hierarchy: an Alpha and his Beta.
This was his tacit acknowledgment of Fu Chu’s impending role as his Beta.
Fu Chu remembered that before, even Gu Shize would never have been permitted such an action. He pressed his lips together, his expression matter-of-fact. “Did I do this to your face?”
Pei Ningyu lied outright. “No.”
A faint trace of amusement colored Fu Chu’s voice. “Then you’re here to see me, at least?”
Pei Ningyu gripped Fu Chu’s chin, forcing him to look up. His sharp eyes bore into him. “Of course. I came to check on my Beta wouldn’t want him to forget me.”
Back at the Eternal Mirror Fortress, Fu Chu often lost himself in thought during idle moments, yet he could never recall a single instance of harmony between him and Pei Ningyu in the base. Every time they met, their exchanges escalated from verbal sparring to outright physical clashes never a moment of peace.
The primary instigator was always Pei Ningyu, who had harbored nothing but hostility toward him.
Everyone in the base knew that Pei Ningyu and Gu Shize had grown up together.
To be precise, the three of them had grown up together.
Pei Ningyu had always been this insufferably arrogant, blessed with a face too striking to dislike yet constantly pushing people’s limits with his audacious behavior. He had never shied away from causing trouble.
Yet Gu Shize, spineless as he was, indulged Pei Ningyu without reservation, showering him with every good thing he had like an offering to a deity.
Fu Chu had always despised Gu Shize’s groveling and mocked it countless times over the years. But the truth was, he had once been no different.
The real rift between them had formed during their first year at the base the one and only time Fu Chu had ever taken first place in a league competition. Before and after that, it had always been second.
Thirteen years old
Fu Chu still remembered that moment in the empty training room when Pei Ningyu’s eyes flickered, those pure black moist orbs suddenly shedding two trails of tears that slid down his cheeks.
Just as Fu Chu was flusteredly wiping away Pei Ningyu’s tears, the other dropped a bombshell: “Fu Chu, let me have first place this time.”
He’d never seen Pei Ningyu like this – tears dripping down pitifully one after another. Fu Chu anxiously asked what was wrong, shaking Pei Ningyu’s shoulders, but after that one sentence, Pei Ningyu stubbornly refused to say anything more.
Fu Chu held Pei Ningyu in a daze, unable to describe the feeling except that it made him unbearably uncomfortable.
In Fu Chu’s understanding, Pei Ningyu should always be that domineering figure looking down on everyone else, his brow arched in mockery, making others beg and fawn over him.
How could he possibly cry?
Had Pei Ningyu just softened that usually sharp and cold demeanor by even a fraction, revealing even a hint of that gentle restraint beneath, it would have shattered Fu Chu’s heart completely.
Yet here he was crying – crying so desperately that Fu Chu panicked.
What’s more, as he spoke, Pei Ningyu rolled up his sleeve to reveal an unnaturally pale arm covered with bruises and finger marks, whispering, “If Pei Xu finds out I only got second place, he’ll beat me to death.”
Of course this was a lie, though Fu Chu wouldn’t learn that until much later.
After years of knowing Pei Ningyu, Fu Chu had grown accustomed to the demonized version of Pei Xu in Pei Ningyu’s stories, so he never doubted the claim.
Especially when Pei Ningyu turned that breathtakingly beautiful face toward him, looking straight into Fu Chu’s soul – how could he not believe?
Fu Chu’s hand hovered over the bruised arm, heart aching. Still young and unable to hide his emotions, he frowned angrily: “How could he do this to you! Ningyu, let’s go to your house ”
At this, Pei Ningyu clammed up again, his face gradually twisting into that familiar sarcastic expression, dark eyes glinting coldly as he interrupted sharply: “If you won’t give it to me just say so! Stop making excuses!”
This person could switch from tears to anger in an instant, his expressions changing as vividly as a living portrait.
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t,” Fu Chu immediately softened his tone when he saw Pei Ningyu’s anger, abandoning his earlier fury, “I just can’t accept you suffering under Pei Xu like this. If I give in this time, what about next time?”
“Should I keep giving in every time?”
Hearing this, Pei Ningyu’s profile turned icy as a frozen lake, his pale lips curling in a humorless smile as he stared fixedly: “There won’t be a next time.”
“Next time, my championship will be rightfully earned.”
Fu Chu helped pull down Pei Ningyu’s rolled-up sleeve. Standing half a head taller, his shadow completely enveloped the other: “I hope so.”
But this simple remark angered Pei Ningyu. The tears vanished instantly, replaced by an expression so cold it could freeze hell over, his gaze sharp as a blade scraping against one’s heart.
“What do you mean by that? You don’t think I can win it?”
Fu Chu: “I didn’t! Ningyu, how could I possibly think that”
He used to blame only himself for being foolish, thinking it was no wonder Pei Ningyu gave him cold looks. But now he realized it had nothing to do with that Pei Ningyu’s temperament was simply like this, utterly capricious and unpredictably moody.
Pei Ningyu harshly cut off his explanation. His pitch-black eyes shifted, revealing a deep-seated resentment that accentuated his almost feminine beauty. “How hypocritical. Hmph, I actually thought we were good friends”
His tone suddenly turned sharp, leaving behind a biting, icy remark: “I never expected you to care so much about the competition. How disappointing.”
Pei Ningyu sneered, “If you don’t want to help, there’s no need to force yourself. We can just go our separate ways. No need to pretend to offer assistance while saying things that insult me.”
Pei Ningyu knew he knew exactly how desperately worried Fu Chu was about him getting beaten by Pei Xu, yet he deliberately said these things to torment him.
“No, that’s not”
Fu Chu stood frozen in place, utterly at a loss. He watched as Pei Ningyu coldly shook him off and left the training room without hesitation.
In the end, he still gave up the medal.
That star-shaped medal, which he had once cherished and polished over and over again, soon found its place in Pei Ningyu’s glass display cabinetjust another unremarkable addition among his many accolades.
But at the time, Fu Chu didn’t feel any regret. Every day, he hoped Pei Ningyu would invite him over, giving him a chance to touch that star medal once more.
He firmly believed that medal would strengthen their friendship, proving to Pei Ningyu that he was the most trustworthy companionnot Gu Shize or anyone else. But reality proved otherwise. From then on, Pei Ningyu abruptly distanced himself.
Back then, Fu Chu couldn’t understand why. Was it because of that one remark, “I hope so”? Or because he hesitated too long before conceding?
Later, Fu Chu realized it didn’t matter whether he conceded or not, or what he said the moment he took first place, Pei Ningyu would never befriend him again.
In the years that followed, Pei Ningyu dominated every competition at the base. Some, like Gu Shize, genuinely admired his achievements; others resented him, eagerly waiting for the day he’d lose to someone else.
Fu Chu belonged to neither group.
He alone dwelled on this memory one so unbelievable that no one would believe it if he told them. The idea of Pei Ningyu tearfully begging someone to concede first place? Utterly absurd.
Now, in the quiet of the hospital room, the rare tranquility between them was almost intoxicating.
Fu Chu pulled himself out of the past. “So, Ningyu, have you decided what to do with me? I’m your beta I told you, you can do whatever you want.”
Despite facing Pei Ningyu’s natural-born arrogance, Fu Chu remained composed and calm. Even with his fate entirely in another’s hands, he maintained an air of nobility.
Those who feel invulnerable always carry themselves with indifference because they face far fewer threats than others.
Not getting the panicked reaction he’d hoped for from Fu Chu, Pei Ningyu once again saw his expectation of leaving an indelible shadow in Fu Chu’s heart fall flat, which displeased him somewhat. “Of course I’ve thought it through. My German Shepherd can’t wait for you to produce several litters of puppies.”
Fu Chu’s smile deepened. “Really?”
He lowered his voice, “So should I call it ‘hubby,’ or should I call you ‘hubby’?”
“Hmm? Hubby.”
Fu Chu watched as a flicker of shock and disgust crossed Pei Ningyu’s face. Pei Ningyu seemed unable to believe what he had just heard, his expression caught between speechlessness and indignation. At the same time, his ears flushed a deep, burning red.
He already has two betas how can he still be this prudish?
Could it be that Pei Ningyu only uses those two betas for pure physical relief?
He keeps insisting on making me his beta, but the moment I say something suggestive, he can’t handle it.
Fu Chu swiftly changed the subject to prevent Pei Ningyu from becoming so flustered that he might flee on the spot. “When are you taking me back to the Pei family? I don’t like staying in the hospital. Hurry up and send someone to pick me up.”
Sometimes, Fu Chu played his role so well that people forgot he, too, was a young master raised in extravagance his innate arrogance no less than Pei Ningyu’s.
He spoke as if it were only natural. “Pei Ningyu, I want a wedding. If I don’t get one, the people at the base will laugh themselves to death. And it has to be held at the Leod Administrative Residence my mother’s grave is there. I need her to see”
A wedding for a beta?
And he even dares to be picky about holding it at the Leod Administrative Residence? Does Fu Chu think he’s an omega or something?
Just hearing the word “hubby” had set off alarm bells in Pei Ningyu’s mind. Now, hearing Fu Chu so eager to return home with him, Pei Ningyu’s emotions surged like stormy waves.
Only one question lingered in his heart: Is Fu Chu’s psychological gender actually alpha?
If Fu Chu’s psychological gender was beta all along, then treating him as a beta wouldn’t even humiliate Xu Sidu.
Wouldn’t that mean humiliating Fu Chu just makes him enjoy it more?
Isn’t this just torturing myself while making someone else happy?
He wasn’t a homosexual to begin with. Sleeping with an alpha had never been his intention he’d only taken an interest because he wanted to see Fu Chu break down in tears.
Pei Ningyu’s exquisitely decadent features, now tinged with hesitation, no longer seemed as coldly unapproachable.
Seeing Pei Ningyu’s expression, Fu Chu promptly stopped himself. He could tell Pei Ningyu was genuinely regretting his bold declaration in front of Pei Xu and Fu Rong about making Fu Chu his beta.
If he kept talking, Pei Ningyu might just pack his bags and flee overnight, leaving Fu Chu stranded in the hospital.
After going so far as to play the beta, if he didn’t even make it through the Pei family’s front door that would be unacceptable.
What a waste. He’d crawl in if he had to.
Suppressing the slight upward curve of his lips, Fu Chu forced the words on the tip of his tongue to take a sharp turn. Smoothly shifting his expression to one of disdain and anger, he withdrew his usual lazy demeanor, replacing it with icy sharpness.
Raising an eyebrow, he snapped, “Were you about to say, ‘What does a beta need a wedding for?’ Pei Ningyu, I’m not some ordinary beta. Don’t think you can brush me off like you do with the others.”
“So what if I’m in your hands? I’m still Fu Chu.”
The words “Come humiliate me, I need to be taught a lesson” might as well have been written across Fu Chu’s deliberately provocative face, making it easy to forget how cold and unapproachable he could look when his expression turned solemn.
Pei Ningyu eyed him coldly, scrutinizing him with a detached gaze.
Fu Chu lazily rested his chin on Pei Ningyu’s shoulder, his voice flat and unreadable. Yet the warm breath brushing against Pei Ningyu’s ear only stoked the fire further.
“Pei Ningyu, you hate me so much could it be because I got you beaten by your brother?”
“Must be exhausting, living forever in your brother’s shadow.”
“Did Pei Xu strip you bare to spank you? Like a helpless little child?”
