Chapter 20: Adverse Reaction
Hearing the last sentence, Zhu Zhixi nearly choked.
In the past, he would not have believed it. But now things were different, because not long ago, his little tailbone had personally verified that fact.
“Then he…”
“Don’t worry. He won’t do it, and he won’t allow himself to do it either. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have ended up looking neither human nor ghost like this.” Li Qiao sighed. “Ordinary Alphas all have their own safe channels for release. Either a partner, or…”
As he spoke, he looked at the pure face in front of him, one that was clearly untouched by AO physiological knowledge, and paused.
“In any case, ever since he fully differentiated into an Alpha at fifteen, he has always relied on medication to get through it.”
Zhu Zhixi did not understand. “Why?”
Why would he rather go against his instincts and suppress himself with medication than accept an Omega partner?
And even… fake-marry a Beta like him, who was of no use at all during times like this.
What could Fu Rangyi gain from it?
Li Qiao did not answer.
He glanced at his watch. “I’m in a hurry, so I have to go. Long story short, what I injected him with just now wasn’t an inhibitor. It was a short-acting sedative. It’ll only last about thirty minutes. There’s another dose here. Use it as little as possible. It has side effects.”
“I brought four types of inhibitors: capsules, oral solution, sedative spray, and injectable inhibitors. They’re all new medications he hasn’t developed resistance to yet. Their effects increase in that order. The instructions are in the medicine box. Remember to read them.”
Zhu Zhixi nodded, then asked, “That… malignant susceptible-period syndrome you mentioned. Does it affect his intelligence?”
He won’t turn into a stupid dog, right?
At the mention of this topic, Li Qiao’s expression turned a little strange, and he gave a vague answer. “…Hard to say.”
But Zhu Zhixi did not notice. “But didn’t he still manage to give a conference report during his susceptible period before?”
Li Qiao rolled his eyes hard. “Do you know how many days in advance he started taking medication for that conference? How many injections he got afterward? He’s already resistant to that medication now. And this time is abnormal. It came so much earlier. Aside from his own subjective consciousness, it was very likely induced…”
He added, “None of that matters now. In short, this is a special situation. These new medications are all very strong. They should barely be able to suppress it.”
Wouldn’t something happen if they used such strong medication?
Zhu Zhixi was very worried. “Are these new drugs of yours compliant? Have they undergone animal testing? They won’t… damage him, right?”
“Listen to yourself. Would I hurt him? At most, there’ll be some adverse reactions. He’s used to it anyway. But the best method is definitely to follow animal instinct and mate. That’s the safest and most efficient.”
Li Qiao smiled. “Of course, with an Omega. The more compatible the pheromones, the better the effect.”
Zhu Zhixi fell silent.
He thought of the Omega they had met at the mall. If it was really as Fu Liaoxing had said, that person’s pheromone match with Fu Rangyi was very high.
Was he the one who had induced Fu Rangyi’s early susceptible period?
While he was thinking, Li Qiao took a small bottle from the medical kit and tossed it into his arms.
“This is a strong sedative spray. If he goes berserk like just now, spray it directly at him. It could knock down even a bull.”
“You should’ve said earlier there was anti-wolf spray!” Zhu Zhixi instantly felt safer.
After finishing his instructions, Li Qiao added him on WeChat, patted him on the shoulder, and said, “Thanks for the hard work. Contact me on WeChat if there’s a problem, but I might only be able to reply at night. I’m leaving.”
“Hero, please stay…”
“Can’t stay even a second longer. If I stay any longer, I’ll be removed from the program!”
Then at least help move him onto the bed before you go.
The front door slammed shut.
This person had appeared in a rush and left in a rush. The apartment became quiet again.
Zhu Zhixi sighed again and again, using all the strength he had, finally transporting his unconscious fake husband back to the large bed in the master bedroom.
“Usually, you dress so thickly and still look tall and slim. How are you this heavy? Did you build this body just to torture me…”
Zhu Zhixi plopped down onto the floor, his eyes staring blankly into space.
There was no time to rest. Judging by the time, the sedative would last at most another ten minutes.
He had to hurry and feed him medicine.
When he opened his phone, he found that Li Qiao had shared another link.
Li Qiao: I’ve opened access to his bracelet permissions for you. This can monitor the wearer’s pheromone concentration, stress condition, heart rate, and other data in real time. It will alarm if anything abnormal occurs. You can refer to the data when deciding how to medicate him.
He tapped the link. Inside, there were indeed many data readings. Almost every item was red, frightening to look at.
“Medicine, medicine.”
According to the medical instructions, he should take the capsules first, followed by the oral solution. These two had the smallest side effects. The former reduced abnormal sexual desire by regulating hormone levels, while the latter reduced pheromones’ control over cognitive ability.
One was chemically throwing cold water?
The other helped restore intelligence?
But Fu Rangyi was currently not conscious, and he was wearing a bite guard. It was inconvenient to feed him medication, and he could not swallow on his own.
To be safe, the only option was to inject the inhibitor first.
Zhu Zhixi had almost never taken care of people, but he had volunteered with an animal protection medical team before and had plenty of experience taking care of small animals. Feeding milk to baby kangaroos, giving intravenous medication to injured baboons, bandaging baby cheetahs—all of that was no problem.
Now it was just switching to a 187-centimeter Alpha in his susceptible period. It should be more or less the same, right…
He read the instructions, prepared the medication, and drew it into the syringe. Zhu Zhixi took a deep breath and pulled Fu Rangyi’s arm over.
His clothes were almost soaked through with sweat, clinging to his skin. Zhu Zhixi held his wrist and struggled to push his sleeve up.
Fu Rangyi’s hand was beautiful enough that it was hard to ignore. Very pale, much larger than his, with long and powerful fingers, thin calluses, distinct knuckles, and faint blue veins shifting beneath the skin. Those tiny scars did not ruin its beauty. Instead, they added a rough tension to it.
Most wonderful of all was that mole. It was set into the thin web of skin between his thumb and index finger, moving with his motions, as if it were alive.
Fu Rangyi’s skin always had a kind of unadulterated porcelain whiteness, cold and icy. Even if some mark appeared on it, it would never remain. Once rinsed with water, it would disappear.
But now, every joint of his fingers carried a pink flush, as though he had gripped and rubbed something hard. This blood color, together with the blue veins, wound upward from his wrist to the crook of his elbow.
His heart rate had already exceeded the normal range, and so had his pulse. It beat powerfully and heavily, making Zhu Zhixi’s palm sweat as he held it.
This was the first time Zhu Zhixi had ever seen Fu Rangyi’s exposed arm.
Unlike his face, which was so beautiful that it almost transcended gender, Fu Rangyi’s figure clearly bore traces of training. His muscles were full in just the right way, their lines smooth.
But none of this surprised him.
Zhu Zhixi frowned. What truly caught him off guard was that the inner side of Fu Rangyi’s forearm was covered with many scars, some deep, some shallow.
Those were clearly not little wounds left behind by work. They had been cut open with a sharp object.
They were already very old, one line pressed against another, firmly buried in his skin.
His breathing grew heavy, and his heart sank with it.
Why hurt himself like this?
Was it because he hated being “alienated” by pheromones into an animal? Did he want to rely on pain to stay awake?
Zhu Zhixi’s nose stung. His hand was also covered in Fu Rangyi’s sweat, a little slick and slippery, making it difficult to hold on.
He could not think about it anymore.
Taking a deep breath, he followed the instructions and located the biceps. After disinfecting the area, Zhu Zhixi furrowed his brows tightly and inserted the needle into the muscle.
He observed the reaction. Fu Rangyi’s brows also knitted together, his Adam’s apple moving up and down.
The high-concentration inhibitor was pushed into his body.
Although Zhu Zhixi could not smell it, in an enclosed space, an overly high concentration of pheromones could still intimidate and affect a Beta.
That seemed to be what was happening now. Zhu Zhixi could hardly breathe.
He stood up and left the bedside, wanting to open a window, but the moment he got to his feet, he felt dizzy and his vision blurred. He steadied himself against the wall. He had not eaten anything since opening his eyes. It was probably low blood sugar.
Zhu Zhixi took a breath, picked up his phone, went downstairs, and randomly got something to fill his stomach at the convenience store.
While eating a rice ball, he unexpectedly discovered that up until now, the countdown had remained paused.
47 days, 01 hours, 42 minutes, 05 seconds.
Was this considered payment for labor?
Right. It was not as though he had deliberately come here to take care of him. It was only a coincidence.
Besides… taking care of him could extend his life. That was the real motive.
Wasn’t this why he had fake-married him in the first place?
Zhu Zhixi rubbed his palm and did not look at the countdown again. After stuffing the last bite into his mouth, he went to the freezer, took a few bottles of electrolyte water, bought some ice cream, and carried everything back to the apartment.
This time, when he entered, the oppressive force of the pheromones was obviously much weaker. At least it no longer affected his normal movements.
“Professor Fu? I’m back.”
He put the ice cream into the freezer compartment, took out a few frozen strawberries and held them in his mouth, poured electrolyte water into a cup, inserted a straw, and carried it into the master bedroom.
Strangely, there was no one on the bed. He was startled, and the water in his hand nearly spilled. But very soon, he discovered the sound of water coming from the bathroom.
Was he awake?
He loved cleanliness so much. The first thing he did after regaining reason was actually take a shower?
The bathroom door was open by a crack. Zhu Zhixi was afraid he would catch cold and wanted to close it for him. Who knew that with just one glance, he would see a pair of long legs through the gap—not standing, but lying on the floor.
There was also red liquid on the floor.
He suddenly thought of the old scars on Fu Rangyi’s arm. His temples throbbed several times, and he shoved the door open violently.
“What happened to you!”
Fu Rangyi was lying on the floor, half-curled up. His clothes were almost completely wet, and a large patch of red had spread across his chest.
But there was no smell of blood in the bathroom, only the sweet aroma of grape wine.
“Pinot Noir?”
Seeing the wine bottle fallen on the floor, Zhu Zhixi finally released the breath that had been caught in his chest. He leaned his back against the bathroom wall and slid down to sit on the floor.
“You scared me to death…”
After calming down for a while, he set the wine bottle upright. There was not much left inside. Most likely, Fu Rangyi had brought it to the room last night.
“Were you trying to use alcohol to stay a little clearer? What kind of thought process is that?”
At this moment, Fu Rangyi suddenly reacted a little too. His eyelids lifted slightly, his mind scattered.
“Wash…” He seemed to struggle to speak. “Clothes. Need washing…”
So after waking up, he had wanted to drink wine, only to realize that with the bite guard on, he could not drink at all and had gotten it all over himself. Then he thought it was dirty, so he had run to the bathroom to wash?
“Young master, you love cleanliness way too much… Don’t worry about the clothes first. Perfect timing, since you can open your mouth now. Drink the medicine first.”
Zhu Zhixi crunched the frozen strawberries loudly between his teeth, went back to the room, and brought over the oral solution and capsules.
Clearly, the neat freak had not fully recovered yet and was in a half-unconscious state.
He sat over, supported Fu Rangyi’s shoulders, and practically half-held him in his arms. Using his phone, he unlocked the first-layer face-covering gag and placed it on the sink. Through the metal cage, he brought the straw of the oral solution to Fu Rangyi’s lips.
He had thought feeding him medicine would be very difficult, but in reality, the moment the straw touched the corner of his lips, he began sucking. He was so proactive that Zhu Zhixi was surprised.
“Are you very thirsty?”
However, feeding him the capsule became a huge problem. It was inconvenient to deliver the medicine through the mouth cage to begin with. After much difficulty, Zhu Zhixi used chopsticks to pinch it and stuff it inside, but this person simply would not eat it. He frowned and spat it back out.
Several times in a row, the capsule fell to the floor, got wet, and was almost dissolving.
“Brother, can you give me some face? I’m sweating from trying to feed you…”
Zhu Zhixi was truly exhausted from all the fuss. He helped him sit up. “Lean against the wall for a bit first. I… I’ll check the instructions.”
If the injectable inhibitor and oral solution were used together, would that be enough?
Could he skip the capsules?
What were the capsules for again?
He flipped through the instructions and sent Li Qiao a voice message while he was at it, but the other side did not reply.
“…Precautions… Before using the injection, a certain dosage of oral inhibitor must first be taken to ensure the relative stability of pheromones within the body. If injected directly during an outbreak period, it may trigger side effects…”
“Huh??? There’s an order to this?” Zhu Zhixi was dumbfounded.
That quack doctor! How could you not emphasize something this important?
He vented by bombarding Li Qiao with a pile of messages on his phone.
What are the side effects?
Zhu Zhixi continued reading. “Fainting, abnormal high fever, delirium…”
Before he could finish reading, he suddenly heard Fu Rangyi’s voice. The timbre was still the same, cold as water. But the tone was completely different—light, slow, unclear, unsteady, his breathing disordered. It was as if he had become another person.
“I want…”
Delirium.
The side effect had arrived.
Zhu Zhixi felt somewhat despairing and somewhat guilty. He wiped Fu Rangyi’s hand with a cold, damp towel. “I’m sorry, Professor Fu. I really have no experience…”
Forget Alphas in their susceptible period. I’m just a little Beta who has never taken care of anyone at all.
“I want…”
He leaned closer and asked in an accommodating tone, “What do you want? I’ll get it for you.”
“To mark you.”
Zhu Zhixi froze. “Huh?”
That wasn’t right.
Had Fu Rangyi mistaken him for someone else?
Zhu Zhixi straightened his head. “You… you can’t mark me.”
Fu Rangyi’s head was resting against the wall. He tilted it back slightly. His pale face was flushed with an abnormal redness, and even the tip of his nose was red. All of this made him look softer and more docile than usual, no longer distant.
Only his eyes were different.
Now, without the barrier of metal frames and glass lenses, those eyes stared straight at him, like bright, snowy hooks biting into his gaze, refusing to let go.
“Zhu Zhixi…” His lips moved slightly, murmuring and repeating, “I want to mark you.”
This was the first time Zhu Zhixi had ever seen Fu Rangyi like this. It was strange, yet also… novel.
He put down the towel and held Fu Rangyi’s burning face in both hands, his tone very serious, as if he were teaching a child.
“That is impossible, Little Student Fu.”
This was too amusing—teaching someone four years older than him? A professor who, in everyone’s eyes, was upright, clear-minded, young, and promising.
“It’s impossible for me to be marked by you.”
Fu Rangyi suddenly smiled.
He had never smiled like this before. It was very strange, very…
Frivolous.
“Then who do you want to mark you?”
His whole body exuded the scent of overripe grapes, sweet with a trace of tartness. Those usually cold eyes were now swollen with base desire. The corners of his eyes were pink, and sweat crawled down like tiny snakes, disappearing into the ends of his brows.
“Who… tell me.”
Zhu Zhixi stared at him, and his mouth suddenly went dry.
Very quickly, he made himself sober up. “What do you mean, who do I want to mark me? I’m a Beta. No one can mark me. You took the wrong medicine… no, got the wrong injection. You’re muddled from the shot.”
“No.” Fu Rangyi spoke very slowly. “I’m so hot. What did you give me to drink?”
“Medicine, and water.” Zhu Zhixi felt terribly wronged. He immediately picked up the medicine bottle and water bottle to show him. “I even specially went out to buy electrolyte water. I didn’t do anything else.”
But he had indeed gotten the order wrong. High fever was also one of the side effects. There was no arguing against that, so Zhu Zhixi felt a little guilty too.
“Then… is there anywhere else that feels uncomfortable? Apart from being hot.”
Fu Rangyi’s breathing was very heavy. It was obvious he still could not really think. He only kept repeating, “Hot. So hot.”
“Okay, okay, I know. Hold this against yourself first.” He stuffed the damp towel into Fu Rangyi’s hand. “I’m going out for a bit.”
He was just about to get up when his hand was directly grabbed.
Fu Rangyi’s hand was terrifyingly hot, like a red-hot iron clamp tightly gripping his fingers. But his brows and eyes were soft, wetly staring at him, not allowing him to leave.
Zhu Zhixi felt somewhat strange. His tone softened a little, and he soothingly touched Fu Rangyi’s hand.
“I’m going to get you some ice cream. Eating something cold should help.”
He used some force to pull his hand free and ran to the kitchen.
When he came back, Fu Rangyi was still in the same position as before, sitting on the floor, his long legs stretched forward, his back against the wall, head tilted up as he panted.
Hearing the door open, he turned his head slightly and looked up at Zhu Zhixi, like a little dog seeing its owner come home.
If this person had a tail, it would definitely be wagging nonstop right now.
Zhu Zhixi tried hard not to look at a certain overly conspicuous place and imagined him as a little dog or cat in heat.
Immediately, he felt that he was upright, smart, and reliable.
Squatting beside Fu Rangyi, he took a small box of vanilla ice cream from the bag, tore off the packaging, scooped up a little with the wooden spoon, and carefully reached it through the gap of the bite guard, feeding it to his lips.
The ice cream melted too quickly.
“Is this okay? I know you don’t like sweet things, but at least it can cool you down a little?” He handed the ice cream cup to Fu Rangyi. “Do you have the strength to eat? Or… do you need me to feed you?”
Fu Rangyi stared blankly at the ice cream for a while. Then his gaze scattered again, drifting along Zhu Zhixi’s arm to the convenience store bag.
“I want…” He lifted his eyelids. “Strawberries.”
“You want strawberry flavor?” Zhu Zhixi was rather surprised.
Was this a susceptible period or a total personality change?
“But I didn’t buy strawberry flavor.” As he spoke, he suddenly thought of something. “Wait. I know. Wait for me.”
He ran off very quickly. Fu Rangyi’s raised hand caught only empty air and clenched half a beat too late.
But he came back very quickly too, sitting cross-legged face-to-face with him. “Look, I froze these a few days ago.”
He proudly showed off the result, picked up the chopsticks, clamped a tiny frozen strawberry, and carefully extended it into the bite guard, bringing it to Fu Rangyi’s lips.
Holding a round, slippery fruit steady was already not simple, and feeding it into the mouth cage without dropping it was even harder. So Zhu Zhixi was especially careful, and even his voice unconsciously softened.
“Eat it. It’ll be a little cold, so hold it in your mouth.”
Fu Rangyi slowly raised his eyes, did as told, and obediently opened his mouth to hold it. At the same time, he stared closely at Zhu Zhixi’s lowered brows and eyes.
“That’s right. Good job.”
The praise slipped out of his mouth unconsciously.
No, wait. This wasn’t a kitten or a puppy. This was Fu Rangyi.
But being praised by him seemed to be a nice thing. Fu Rangyi actually took the initiative to raise his hand and place his palm into Zhu Zhixi’s hand.
So…
So fun.
Looking at the hand resting in his palm, Zhu Zhixi felt as if a small piece of his heart had sunk in.
Unlike Alphas and Omegas, he had differentiated early into a Beta during puberty. He was not affected by pheromones, and naturally had no interest in such things either. He had always slept through physiology class. This was his first time taking care of an Alpha in his susceptible period.
And Fu Rangyi was special too, different from other Alphas.
Feeling playful, Zhu Zhixi stared at those full, rosy lips, as well as the sharp, snow-white canines inside.
For some reason, as if possessed, he reached out slowly. The tip of his index finger slipped into the gap of the bite guard.
Will you bite me?
He tightened his grip around the hand Fu Rangyi had taken the initiative to give him.
You won’t, right? Right now, you should be treating me as your owner.
Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard a crisp sound. Every pore on his body trembled, and he yanked his finger back at once.
That was the sound of upper and lower teeth snapping together hard.
He had still been bitten a little.
“It hurts, Fu Rangyi! You actually really bit me!”
Under the bathroom light, Zhu Zhixi pinched his fingertip and looked at it again and again. He glared viciously at the perpetrator, then turned his head and squeezed the bitten fingertip.
Why wasn’t there any blood?
Even a tiny bit would do.
Finally, enduring the pain, he squeezed out a pinprick-sized drop of blood. Immediately, as if he had obtained criminal evidence, he jabbed it straight in front of Fu Rangyi’s eyes.
“Look. You bit me. You even made me bleed! And before, you said you wouldn’t touch even one of my fingers.”
“Hurry and apologize to Zhu Zhixi.”
Fu Rangyi’s eyes were moist, and his gaze was even more innocent.
He leaned his head forward, moving a little closer. The hot mist of his breath wrapped around Zhu Zhixi’s hand.
So hot.
The bite guard pressed against him too, somewhat cold.
Zhu Zhixi felt a little lingering fear and wanted to pull his hand back, but in the next second, his fingertip was passively guided through the gap of the bite guard, inch by inch, forced closer to the sealed lips within.
The dangerous perpetrator opened his lips, but did not bite. Instead, he extended the tip of his tongue and licked Zhu Zhixi’s “injured” finger.
Zhu Zhixi jolted. His legs went weak. Like those Omegas who were extremely susceptible to Alpha pheromones, it was as if an electric current had passed through him, from the top of his head down to his toes, numbing his entire body for an instant.
And that damp tongue tip actually…
It was even circling around his finger.
“Wait, why are you…”
His heart slammed hard several times, as if crashing against his chest and jolting him awake. He quickly pulled his hand back and retreated too, until his back hit the opposite wall with a thud. He clutched his finger and stared at Fu Rangyi.
This is what you call “not touching even one finger”? You didn’t just touch me with your hand, you touched me with your tongue too!
Liar.
He swallowed, then rubbed his fingertip, feeling uncomfortable all over. He put his hand down, braced it against the floor, and dug his fingers in tightly.
Fu Rangyi made no reaction and simply looked at him through the damp, heated air.
His upturned neck was very long and graceful, his Adam’s apple especially prominent, bobbing up and down again and again. His cheeks were puffed slightly, still holding the frozen strawberry, and his breathing was a little calmer than before.
Vaguely, Zhu Zhixi heard some sounds: a muffled, sticky swallow, and also the crisp tapping of the frozen-hard strawberry against teeth.
The playful mood from earlier vanished in an instant, replaced by a complex emotion.
Whether it was desire or pheromones, to him, they were all things he could neither see nor touch.
So was the virus.
He could clearly feel that these viruses were silently spreading, expanding into this body of his that was supposed to be immune to all poisons.
“I…” Fu Rangyi’s lips moved.
“What?” Zhu Zhixi could not hear clearly. He braced his hand against the floor and cautiously moved a little closer. “What’s wrong? Where do you feel uncomfortable?”
“I want to do it.” His teeth ground together with a creaking sound. “I want… to do it.”
“Hurry. Give it to me.”
Author’s Note:
The usual Fu Rangyi: devoted to academics, guarding his chastity like jade, pure-hearted and abstinent, refined but not scum…
Susceptible-period Fu Rangyi: seductive top.
Someone is about to start “resorting to any means necessary.”
The first susceptible-period arc will last quite a while, because for upright, smart, and reliable Nurse Zhu, this is a bit of a bumpy ride.
