Chapter 44: Supplementing Pheromones
After Jiang Rong reported the case, the police quickly arrived at the school to investigate the malicious-rumor incident.
Jiang Rong had his own considerations. If the defamatory rumors weren’t dealt with promptly, they would seriously affect his future life at school. This concerned not only his own reputation but also that of He Siming and others. The other party was clearly acting with premeditation—there was no way he could just swallow it and keep quiet. Especially when photos of He Siming’s uncle appeared in the post, Jiang Rong became certain that he had been followed since the weekend.
After he called the police, He Siming immediately contacted their family’s regular lawyer to follow up, sparing Jiang Rong the trouble of running back and forth later.
Although the school wanted to keep things quiet and deleted the post right away, Jiang Rong had already saved the evidence in time.
Moreover, He Siming told Jiang Rong that what the forum administrator deleted was only the front-end display—the backend data was still retained. He had contacted the head of the IT department to preserve the data, so there was no need to worry about lacking evidence. Even the few accounts that were the most aggressive in the forum could be traced through their IP addresses. After all, what major were they? Picking a fight with computer science students—serves them right.
Fabricating sexual rumors was more than enough to open a case. After reporting it, He Siming accompanied Jiang Rong to give his statement. Jiang Rong told the police that someone had been following him all week. At first, he thought it was just his imagination, but it turned out to be real. He also told them that the person he met at the café near the hospital was He Siming’s uncle. If the café’s surveillance footage showed the same person as the one seen at the school, then it would clearly point to the culprit.
By the time the police arrived at the school and the statements were completed, nearly half a day had passed.
When police get involved, schools naturally take things seriously—especially since the target of the rumors was a student scheduled to undergo surgery the following year. The nature of the incident was extremely vile.
He Siming didn’t let Jiang Rong show his face anymore. With the weekend coming up, two full days were enough for the police to collect evidence.
Once the cyber police arrived on campus, they quickly took over the forum and identified the poster of the rumor as well as several of the most active accounts.
The report was filed in the morning, and by around four in the afternoon there were already preliminary conclusions, though the police still needed to follow up and hadn’t publicly disclosed the investigation’s progress.
Before long, word spread that a male student from the neighboring dormitory had been taken away by the police for questioning.
Speculation quickly followed—this student was likely related to the rumor incident.
The matter caused a huge stir and spread rapidly throughout the school. When people saw Jiang Rong and He Siming walking together, they couldn’t help but take a second look.
Worried that Jiang Rong would be affected, He Siming didn’t take him back to school that afternoon. Instead, they went straight home.
Jiang Rong was carrying two lives now. After being tossed around for most of the day, both his body and mind were exhausted. As soon as they got home, he leaned against He Siming to rest.
He Siming let him rest with his head on his thigh and stayed with him the whole time, worried he might not be able to withstand the emotional blow. Pregnancy already made emotions more volatile—He Siming was afraid Jiang Rong might feel overwhelmed.
“Want to sleep for a bit?”
“Mm.”
But compared to transmigrating into this world, differentiating from a Beta into an Omega, getting pregnant during a sudden heat—this incident of being slandered seemed almost insignificant.
Jiang Rong’s mood was actually fine; he wasn’t affected much. If anything, He Siming was more anxious than he was.
Jiang Rong tried to reassure him. “Don’t worry, I’m really not affected. I just didn’t take a nap at noon, so I’m a bit sleepy.”
He Siming wasn’t entirely convinced. “Really? When you felt like someone was following you, why didn’t you tell me? Weren’t you scared?”
Jiang Rong replied, “It was okay. It was broad daylight, and there were classmates everywhere. I wasn’t scared.”
He Siming squeezed his hand. “From now on, protect yourself properly. If anything feels off, tell me immediately, okay?”
“Okay,” Jiang Rong said.
Just thinking about someone plotting against Jiang Rong made He Siming uncomfortable. He suspected it might have been trouble he himself had brought to Jiang Rong.
Seeing He Siming even more anxious than he was, Jiang Rong gently held his fingers. Lying on He Siming’s thigh, he tilted his head up and looked at his sharply defined chin.
“You’ve always been by my side,” he said with a faint smile. “So I’m not afraid. He Siming, I want to kiss you.”
“Mm.” Without hesitation, He Siming bent down and kissed him gently. The kiss was deep but full of tenderness and care—not forceful at all, soft like spring water, soothing like a gentle breeze.
Jiang Rong felt very comfortable under his kiss. He lightly grabbed the edge of He Siming’s sweater, closed his eyes, and savored the moment.
By the time He Siming ended the kiss, Jiang Rong had already fallen asleep contentedly.
Seeing how soundly he slept, He Siming finally believed that he truly hadn’t been affected. Jiang Rong never lied to him—his straightforwardness only made him more precious.
He took the blanket from the sofa and gently covered Jiang Rong, then quietly picked up his phone.
The lawyer messaged He Siming on WeChat: the person who’d been taken in was a student from a neighboring class, someone who normally had no interaction with Jiang Rong. That this student would suddenly make a post spreading sexual rumors about Jiang Rong was very strange. In addition, the police had been reviewing the school’s surveillance footage from the past week and discovered that someone really had been tailing Jiang Rong. That person was very cautious—Jiang Rong hadn’t noticed, and he was skilled at avoiding cameras. However, the school had quite a few hidden cameras, and in the end, they managed to capture him.
This person wasn’t even a student at Qin University—he was a private detective hired from outside. And in the country, private detectives were an illegal profession.
He Siming replied to the lawyer with his fingertip: Make him confess who’s behind it, then lock him up for a few years.
Anyone willing to take on a job that involved spying on others’ privacy probably had a long history of doing similar illegal things. They likely carried plenty of unlawful surveillance equipment. Sending him to prison would hardly be unjust.
As for the mastermind behind it all, He Siming already had his suspicions—he just needed confirmation.
He usually couldn’t be bothered to deal with petty tricks like this. If they were used on him, he didn’t care much. But this time, they had touched someone he cherished.
He didn’t even dare imagine what might have happened if the other party’s methods had been more extreme.
Perhaps he’d been too low-key in recent years, making others think he was easy to bully and had no temper.
He Siming opened WeChat and asked Ding Yan for the contact information of his uncle who ran a security company.
Ding Yan replied: You’re not planning to have them escort Jiang Rong to school every day, are you?
He Siming: No, I have other uses.
Ding Yan forwarded his uncle’s contact to him.
Half an hour later, the uncle happily accepted the order.
Meanwhile, the lawyer was still following up on the police interrogation of the neighboring class student. The student was stubborn and lacked legal awareness, failing to realize how serious the situation was. He kept insisting that he was jealous of Jiang Rong for having a rich second-generation roommate. As a student from a poor background himself, he’d developed resentment and therefore reported Jiang Rong to the school and posted those photos.
But when asked where the photos came from, he said he’d hired someone to take them because he didn’t have time.
When the police asked where he got the money to hire a private detective, he claimed the detective was a friend of a friend who wanted to help him vent his anger and didn’t charge him any money.
The police also suspected he was acting under someone else’s instructions, but with his stubborn refusal to confess—and out of humanitarian considerations—they couldn’t force him to admit it.
The private detective, it seemed, had coordinated his story with the student. When asked whom he gave the photos to, he said he sent them to that student. The police checked their WeChat records—and they matched.
The police knew everything about the case was riddled with inconsistencies, but since the suspects refused to talk, they could only temporarily suspend the interrogation and continue investigating.
Although neither side had revealed the mastermind, the experienced investigators already knew there was still someone behind the scenes who hadn’t surfaced.
After the lawyer updated He Siming on the progress, He Siming said he had a way to make the culprit turn themselves in.
At eight o’clock in the evening, Yang Qin went to a beauty salon with her friends from outside the school for treatments. She went every week for full-body care, inside and out, extremely meticulously.
The salon was a bit far from campus. After finishing, Yang Qin took a taxi straight back to school.
Unregistered vehicles weren’t allowed on campus. Qin University had a campus shuttle, but she disliked crowds. If she wasn’t in a hurry, she usually walked back to her dorm.
But today was strange. As soon as she entered the campus, she felt two malicious gazes fixed on her.
She looked around but didn’t see anyone.
Uneasy, she quickened her pace toward the dorms.
She had just passed the bus stop at the school gate. Turning back now felt pointless, and there was another stop a few hundred meters ahead—she decided to keep walking.
She felt like someone was following her. She didn’t dare turn around, only hurried forward.
Tap, tap, tap.
Rhythmic footsteps followed closely behind her. But when she turned around, no one was there.
Heart pounding, she ran all the way back to her dorm.
The next morning, she was getting ready to go on a date with a rich second-generation guy who had been pursuing her for a month. As soon as she stepped out of the dorm building, she again heard the same footsteps from the night before. When she turned around, there was still no one.
A friend walking with her asked, “Why are you so jumpy?”
Trying to stay calm, Yang Qin said, “I feel like someone’s following me.”
Her friend teased her, “Who would stalk someone in broad daylight? That’d be too messed up. Maybe it’s one of your obsessive simps?”
Yang Qin said, “Impossible. Don’t you really feel like someone’s following us?”
Her friend comforted her. “If you’ve got a clear conscience, you won’t fear ghosts knocking at midnight—let alone in the daytime. Relax. You probably just didn’t sleep well last night.”
Yang Qin: “…”
Right. She hadn’t done anything wrong—others had. What did it have to do with her?
However, her Saturday didn’t turn out to be nearly as relaxing as she’d imagined.
The rich second-gen booked out a cinema to watch a movie with her. After the lights went out, a dark figure suddenly appeared at the entrance. She jumped in fright, but when she looked again, no one was there.
Later, while shopping at the mall, just as the rich second-gen was about to pay for a branded handbag for her, a strange girl suddenly appeared beside her.
The girl said, “Yang Qin, your boyfriend was just looking for you. Why are you here?”
The rich second-gen, phone in hand ready to pay, froze. “You have a boyfriend?”
Yang Qin hurriedly said, “No! I don’t even know her!”
The rich second-gen looked at her coldly. “She knows your name. And you have a boyfriend but still come out with me?”
Yang Qin was at a loss for words. “She’s making things up. I really don’t have a boyfriend, and I really don’t know her.”
But the rich second-gen didn’t believe her at all. He put away his payment code and turned to leave.
The sales assistant asked, “Miss, do you still want this bag?”
Furious, Yang Qin snapped, “No!”
When she tried to look for the girl who had slandered her, she realized the girl had already disappeared from the store. That girl had done it on purpose!
As she left the boutique, she even felt like the sales assistant was mocking her.
Her entire day’s plans were ruined. All she could do was go back to school.
Back in her dorm, fuming, Yang Qin idly scrolled on her phone—only to see people gossiping about her in the school’s main group chat. Her heart sank instantly.
—Everyone beware of a particularly beautiful girl. She has a boyfriend but still goes out with rich second-gens. Disgusting!
—Who?
—A very pretty girl with lots of suitors. Everyone should open their eyes. I really couldn’t stand it—my innocent rich second-gen friend was deceived today and almost bought her a bag worth over 30,000 yuan.
—Your friend’s easy to scam—30k just like that.
—Oh? Isn’t that rich second-gen the one with the “horizontal stroke and hook” surname?
—The one with the horizontal stroke and hook surname likes underclassmen.
The rich second-gen with the “horizontal stroke and hook” surname happened to click into the group chat: “…” He’d already stopped liking her, thank you very much!
Since it was the weekend and no one had classes, the group chat instantly became lively.
Many people jumped in to say that this beautiful girl often accepted red packets like “1314” and “520,” refusing any that didn’t have those special numbers. She loved branded bags and watches, demanded upscale restaurants when going out to eat—any place under 1,000 yuan per person was unacceptable. The more money you sent her, the higher your chances of getting a date. Her pure and aloof persona was all fake—she was actually extremely vain.
Yang Qin saw all of this too. Some of it was half true, half false—but were these really about her? This wasn’t her at all! She wasn’t that kind of person!
Those red packets were sent voluntarily—there was no such thing as only eating at high-end restaurants.
Lying on her bed, she finally realized someone was deliberately targeting her.
And recently, she’d only done one thing—she’d hinted to a computer science student who liked her to make that post.
Ever since Jiang Rong appeared, she hadn’t been able to get close to those two anymore.
But she truly believed Jiang Rong was that kind of person. Otherwise, where did he get the money for luxury brands if not from relying on He Siming and Ding Yan? Was she wrong to expose it in a slightly exaggerated way?
Knock, knock, knock.
The dorm door was knocked on. Her roommate told her someone was looking for her.
Yang Qin sat up on the bed. Two female police officers, practically radiating righteousness, showed her their badges.
“Student Yang Qin, we’re officers from the XXX Police Station. There’s something we need you to cooperate with. Please come with us.”
She’d had people post rumors before—but no one had ever called the police!
Panic surged in Yang Qin’s heart.
I’m finished, she thought.
Jiang Rong had no idea what He Siming had done—and He Siming didn’t need him to know. He was simply repaying in kind. You could target him, but touching his person was unacceptable.
After eating the breakfast He Siming brought to his bedside, Jiang Rong grew sleepy again and went back to sleep. By noon, he finally felt refreshed.
He Siming stayed home all day. After lunch, he marked out key points for Jiang Rong’s exams next week. Thankfully, Jiang Rong had studied hard over the past few months and could more or less remember the material.
At three in the afternoon, the lawyer called He Siming.
He Siming put the call on speaker so Jiang Rong could hear the good news.
Lawyer: “The police have found the mastermind behind it.”
Jiang Rong looked at He Siming excitedly.
He Siming asked, “Who is it?”
Lawyer: “A pretty girl from your school. Her name is Yang Qin.”
Jiang Rong asked, “Will she be punished?”
Lawyer: “Depending on the severity, it’ll be either detention or sentencing. Also, she wants to apologize to you in person and obtain your letter of forgiveness.”
Jiang Rong replied firmly, “I don’t accept her apology.”
Carelessly using the internet to defame others—especially with sexual rumors—was enough to destroy someone’s entire life, irreversibly.
Lawyer: “Understood.”
After hanging up, Jiang Rong asked He Siming, “Will Yang Qin get whipped?”
He Siming was confused. “Huh?”
Jiang Rong asked, “Spreading rumors doesn’t get you flogged?”
In Jiang Rong’s world, spreading sexual rumors was a very serious crime.
Because Omega heat cycles were sometimes uncontrollable, people often made jokes about Omegas. After years of protests by Omega protection groups, punishments were established: those who spread sexual rumors would be whipped—once for minor cases, three to ten times for severe ones.
He Siming thought Jiang Rong was even tougher than he’d imagined—he was actually thinking about flogging.
Looking at Jiang Rong’s serious expression, He Siming laughed. “Our country doesn’t have flogging. Some small Southeast Asian countries do. Yang Qin will probably be detained for a few days, but she’ll have a criminal record. In the future, she may not be able to enter government-related units. Even her future children’s civil service exams could be affected.”
Jiang Rong nodded. “I see. Collective punishment sounds even scarier than flogging.”
He Siming kissed the corner of his lips. “It really is scary.” He pulled Jiang Rong onto his lap. “Want to play with a whip?”
“He Siming, you—” Jiang Rong leaned against his shoulder, his fair, beautiful face gradually flushing pink, like a tempting peach.
He Siming bit his lip lightly as a reminder. “Baby, it’s time to replenish pheromones.”
Jiang Rong’s body heated up. He Siming seemed to be getting more and more skilled at controlling pheromones.
He opened his mouth to respond, unable to refuse. “Mm.”
After the kiss ended, Jiang Rong suddenly remembered his studying. Breathing lightly, he asked, “T-Today… are we still going over key points?”
He Siming captured his breath again, slowly claiming the sweet, fragrant peach as his own. In a hoarse voice by Jiang Rong’s ear, he replied, “Slide—why wouldn’t we slide?”
Jiang Rong: “…”
It sounded like a typo.
