CH 10

Bai Huaiyu’s smile stiffened slightly, but immediately recovered. “Brother Zhaozhou is still as serious as ever. How about I treat you to a meal and catch up sometime? It’s been a while since we last saw each other.”

Pei Zhaozhou coldly refused. “There’s no need.”

Bai Huaiyu raised an eyebrow. It had been a long time since anyone had dared to refuse him openly like this, especially since he became the young master of the Bai family. He had expected Pei Zhaozhou’s aloof personality, but he didn’t expect it to remain unchanged for so long… It’s annoying.

With a gentle and charming smile, Bai Huaiyu’s almond eyes curved as he looked at Pei Zhaozhou ambiguously and said, “We’ll have a chance to meet again in the future, Brother Zhaozhou.”

Pei Zhaozhou gave him a meaningful look, furrowing his brow and remaining silent.

Bai Huaiyu slowly walked away, and the surrounding staff greeted him warmly. He seemed to be very popular.

On the sidelines, Zhou Wenjia looked puzzled.

Bai Huaiyu is a well-known Omega in the imperial city, with an excellent reputation and exceptional looks. He is a top-level Omega, pursued by countless alphas. Although it was rumored that Bai Huaiyu had close interactions with some powerful top-tier Alphas, it was only hearsay.

Why would his friend Pei Zhaozhou be even colder and more distant towards him? After all, Bai Huaiyu is an A-level Omega, close to S-level. Although his status is not as high as Pei Zhaozhou, it is said that his pheromones are highly compatible with any Alpha, which is one of the reasons why he is so popular.

Zhou Wenjia was worried that Pei Zhaozhou’s messy pheromones would worsen his condition. If he could find a highly compatible Omega like Bai Huaiyu, who was of a high level, to soothe him with pheromones, it might help alleviate the situation.

Zhou Wenjia looked at his friend anxiously and said, “President Pei, are you really planning to give up on yourself? It’s not easy for an Omega to come and say hello. How can you ignore him?”

Pei Zhaozhou’s brows furrowed tightly. “He is not a simple Omega.”

Zhou Wenjia thought his friend was being stubborn again and sighed. “What’s so complicated? Bai Huaiyu is just an Omega. He wouldn’t harm you, would he?”

Pei Zhaozhou, however, spoke in a serious tone. “You don’t understand. Bai Huaiyu is not an ordinary person. I advise you to stay away from him as much as possible.”

Zhou Wenjia was puzzled, wondering how Pei Zhaozhou was so familiar with Bai Huaiyu. “Do you know him from before?”

Pei Zhaozhou nodded, but his expression wasn’t too good. Zhou Wenjia was surprised and looked at his friend closely with wide eyes. He couldn’t believe that Pei Zhaozhou, who never spoke more than a few words to Omegas, knew Bai Huaiyu, who was somewhat famous.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Zhou Wenjia asked, “When did you meet Bai Huaiyu? It seems like you have some sort of relationship with him. That’s not like you at all.”

Pei Zhaozhou replied, “It’s not exactly a relationship. Bai Huaiyu used to be my neighbor. He didn’t have the surname Bai back then. He used his mother’s surname instead”

Bai Huaiyu used to be called Song Huaiyu and lived in a shabby house in the western suburbs of the Imperial city. The area was known for its high crime rates, with frequent robberies and thefts occurring.

Pei Zhaozhou himself had a complicated background. His father died in the war when he was seven, so his mother, a Federal citizen, was forcibly deported back to the Federation, leaving behind some money and a letter.

Although he knew that there were still relatives of his father’s side living in the imperial city, probably belonging to the aristocracy, Pei Zhaozhou stubbornly refused to go back and chose to live alone in the slums. He vaguely sensed that his father’s side of the family had intervened in the matter of his mother’s deportation and they despised his mother’s lowly civilian status as a Federal citizen. They also wanted to force him to return to the family.

Coincidentally, at that time, the neighbor next door was Bai Huaiyu, who had not yet differentiated into an Omega.

Due to his unclear background and unknown father, as well as his weak mother, who had her glands removed, Bai Huaiyu was regarded as a bastard of unknown origin. Moreover, because of his skinny physique and gloomy personality when he was young, he was constantly bullied and beaten by the little gangsters in the slum.

When Pei Zhaozhou was young, he was like a lone wolf in the slums that no one dared to provoke. Even before he came of age, he could knock down adult Alphas, and would occasionally go to the underground black boxing ring to vent his youthful restlessness. It was only after he joined the imperial army that he gradually settled down and became more composed.

Occasionally, because of Bai Huaiyu’s kind-hearted mother, Pei Zhaozhou helped him a few times by driving away those bullies. However, the slums were a cruel place where the weak were preyed upon by the strong, and Bai Huaiyu, who could not stand up for himself, was always bullied and insulted.

However, everything changed when Bai Huaiyu differentiated into an Omega. He underwent a complete transformation and became a completely different person. The people who used to bully him became crazily infatuated with him, competing for his favor and even fighting and causing deaths…

The Alpha gang leader who used to bully Bai Huaiyu the most became his most loyal and devoted lap dog. As long as Bai Huaiyu gave an order, this lapdog, who had been trained to obey, would do anything.

Bai Huaiyu quickly gained a large amount of wealth and moved out of the slums.

One day, this lap dog went crazy on the street, killing many people who had previously bullied Bai Huaiyu. He was eventually caught, handcuffed, and convicted of intentional murder, and sent to the empire’s strictest prison.

At this time, Bai Huaiyu had already been taken back to the capital by the Bai family, reverted back to his original name. He was adopted by the family head, who held actual power and became the young master of the Bai family.

Pei Zhaozhou didn’t know how Bai Huaiyu had managed to achieve all of this, but the series of events were enough to make him wary of this person.

“Teacher Bai, you’re here! Let me take you to the filming location. Director Lin is waiting for you over there,” the assistant Xiao Li greeted Bai Huaiyu warmly.

Bai Huaiyu replied with a friendly smile, “Thank you for your help.”

Xiao Li had dealt with many stars who were good-tempered in public but spoiled and uncooperative in private. She had thought that as an Omega, Bai Huaiyu might be difficult to get along with, but she was surprised to find that he was so polite to even a small assistant like her. Bai Huaiyu was indeed worthy of being born into an educated, aristocratic family.

Xiao Li was slightly excited and said, “You are too polite. It’s my job to do this.”

Bai Huaiyu was used to being looked at with excitement and enthusiasm by others and found it boring. Suddenly, he asked, “Where is the lead actor, Si Huaixi?”

Xiao Li thought for a moment and flattered him, “I remember Si Huaixi was just here, but now he’s not the lead actor anymore. He’s just an unimportant supporting actor. Only Teacher Bai is qualified to be the lead actor.”

Bai Huaiyu frowned slightly on the surface, but secretly smirked, pretending to be modest, and said, “This is a decision made jointly by the director and the investors. No one is more qualified than anyone else.”

Xiao Li quickly nodded and said, “Yes, yes! Teacher Bai is right.”

The Imperial University is located in the most prosperous east district, not far from the Imperial Palace, and gathers the most elite teaching resources and talents. Countless talents in technology and military fields have graduated from this university, making it the top university in the entire empire. The students here are all reserves of the empire’s future talents, but even excellent students chase idols.

When they saw that a celebrity had arrived, many students sent messages in the group and came over to join the excitement.

“That’s the celebrity Bai Huaiyu! I love his recent variety show where he demonstrates how to cook traditional dishes. He looks so elegant, and he’s my ideal type of Omega!”

“Well, I think his performance in the idol drama ‘Flowers Bloom in the Ashes’ is even better. He played the gentle second male lead and looked so charming!”

Bai Huaiyu enjoyed the attention of these Imperial University students and proactively approached them to sign autographs and take photos.

Liang Antong was a sophomore studying economics at Empire University, and she was also a fan of Bai Huaiyu. However, she was a die-hard ‘face control’ fan who admired anyone who looked good. She had climbed seven or eight walls of different celebrities in one semester. Recently, due to mid-term exams, she had to abandon her beloved online world and focus entirely on studying in seclusion.

After being busy for a while, she finally finished her exams. Before the exam, Liang Antong was infatuated with Bai Huaiyu, who was known for his pure and white jade-like looks. She even used his photo as her profile picture. When she heard the news that Bai Huaiyu was filming at Empire University through the school group chat, she immediately dragged her dormitory roommate and best friend, Qiu Yi.

Qiu Yi pushed up her glasses lazily and walked along saying, “Okay, I promised to come with you and even skipped my nap. You have to buy me a bottle of milk tea flavored nutritional supplement from the cafeteria! The one that’s a limited edition!”

Although the nutritional supplement had relatively low nutritional value, it was one of the tastiest items in the cafeteria and a popular food among students. The cafeteria only limited it to 100 bottles a day, and if you didn’t go early, you wouldn’t be able to buy it.

Liang Antong walked quickly in front, holding her friend’s hand, searching left and right for Bai Huaiyu’s voice and muttering, “I know, I know! I’ll buy it for you early tomorrow morning!”

Liang Antong was famous in the dormitory for being a star chaser, and Qiu Yi was known for her love of good food. These two people with different hobbies unexpectedly became best friends.

Actually, even if Liang Antong didn’t buy the milk tea-flavored nutrition supplement, Qiu Yi would still go with her. It’s just that her best friend became preoccupied with a beauty and forgot about other things. They had originally agreed to celebrate at a restaurant after finishing their exams, but now ended up drinking a bottle of nutrition supplement to satisfy their hunger.

Qiu Yi thought bitterly about the restaurant she had reserved a week in advance. She heard that the restaurant’s chef made delicious Garlic Bok Choy. While walking, Qiu Yi suddenly stopped, causing Liang Antong to stumble backward. Angrily, Liang Antong turned around and looked at her best friend. “Why aren’t you walking? Hurry up, or my idol might run away!”

Qiu Yi calmly pointed towards Si Huaixi, who was passing by, and confidently said, “You don’t need to look any further. Just climb the wall!”

Under the shade of the trees, with a light breeze, a handsome and independent young man appeared before them. His pure and mysterious sea-blue eyes were like a beautiful pearl from the sea, while the slightly cold black eyebrows suppressed the hint of charming crimson at the corners of his eyes. His delicate and glossy lips, as well as his striking marble-like features, made him look like a sea siren who had walked out of the depths of the ocean with the sea breeze, shaking everyone’s hearts and leaving them in awe, just like the sailors in ancient times who jumped into the sea after being bewitched by the song of the sea monsters.

Liang Antong was shocked and flustered, and her eyes were restless as she stared at the mysterious and handsome young man, not knowing where to look. The dignity of being a “face control” made her heart pound like thunder. She suppressed the scream that was stuck in her throat and longed to immediately throw herself into the arms of the new beauty, even if he was a somewhat mysterious and dangerous young sea monster.

Finally, she slowly uttered two words: “Let’s climb!”