Apex Predator - Chap 21
Shen Dai signed the purchase agreement of the house. Then with the help of his agent he completed the bank loan application and conveyancing process.
Upon receiving the key, a burden was lifted from his shoulders. He felt a sense of fulfilment and peace of mind.
He prudently decided to go with the lowest monthly loan repayment. Although he had a stable income from the Research Institute, and with his qualifications could quickly find a new job were he to lose his current one, he had already lived though the nightmare of losing everything overnight. Whatever he did now, he would always make sure to have a backup plan. Medical bills and living expenses were also a consideration. For the moment this way of allocating his finances made the most sense, allowing him to set aside a bit of money for a rainy day.
He planned everything out in his head: How he was going to give the place a simple renovation, all the things he needed to buy, roughly how much time it would take. Best if they could move in right after his grandmother’s operation. That would be most ideal, and also feel like a rite to symbolise the start of a new life. Along with excising the tumour and their terrible life in the past, they could bring in a vibrant future in this new home.
His grandmother was bound to be happy.
Shen Dai was completely lost in his thoughts, all the while searching online for simple decorating tips, as well as furniture, electronics and other household goods. Only when Cheng Zimei called him for lunch did he realise that he had spent the entire morning doing nothing.
“Let’s head to the big cafeteria today. Aiyo, those knife-cut noodles are so delicious. I haven’t had it for a few days. I want some.”
“Alright!” Shen Dai was in high spirits, adding, “Zimei, I have some good news to tell you.”
“What news?”
“My grandmother’s operation was arranged last week. The surgeon is one of the leading experts. It’s scheduled for next month.”
Cheng Zimei exclaimed, “That’s great. The operation will surely go well. When the time comes I have to go see your grandmother in the hospital.”
“You don’t have to go to the hospital. Come over to our place. We’re moving.”
“Where to?”
Shen Dai did not tell her that he had purchased the house, and said instead that they had found a new rental that was a bit nicer and closer to where he was staying, making it easier for him to look after his grandmother.
The two of them walked along and chatted, finally reaching the cafeteria.
As they were lining up for food, he had an inexplicable sensation that people were sneaking glances at him, even that they were whispering to each other about heaven knows what.
He thought he might have been overly sensitive, but Cheng Zimei also very quickly sensed that something was wrong: “Is it me or are those people staring at us?”
“No idea.”
The both of them gave each other a look-over and didn’t notice anything unusual. Though Shen Dai honestly did think that it wasn’t just him; the glances of the people around them had already gotten even more daring and indiscreet.
“Let’s just do a takeaway instead.”
“Whatever for?” said Chen Zimei in a deliberately loud voice, “If they want to look then let them look. This big sister is so pretty to look at anyway.”
Some of the onlookers immediately averted their eyes.
The two of them found a seat in a corner. They shrugged and shook their heads in bewilderment, unable to figure out what was going on.
At that moment, Cheng Zimei’s mobile phone vibrated. She clicked open a gossip chat group between her and her female friends. Immediately, her mouth opened wide in shock. She shoved her phone in front of Shen Dai’s eyes, swinging her arm with such amplitude that she almost hit him in the face: “This is you right?”
It was an animated GIF from a surveillance camera. From that low resolution footage, Qu Moyu could be seen walking past while carrying someone wrapped in a coat, further cementing the rumours from before.
Shen Dai watched that looping video image tensely.
There was a sudden sharp pain in his foot – Chen Zimei had stomped on it.
“You lied to me!” said Cheng Zimei furiously. “I thought we were friends, but you kept this from me. Shen Dai, I can’t fucking believe you!”
He put his hand over her shoulder and covered her mouth, coaxing her, “Keep it down, grand auntie, please, I’m sorry.”
Cheng Zimei was livid, but at the same time, there was a flicker of excitement in her eyes.
He sighed, “Let’s go back and eat.”
She crossed her arms, her face sullen as she listened to Shen Dai’s “honest explanation”, yet even after he finished she still wasn’t satisfied: “So that’s what happened? After you nearly passed out from Alpha pheromones, the Crown Prince took you to the hospital?”
“Mhm.” He didn’t want to lie to his best friend, but so much had happened between him and Qu Moyu, and as time went by, he had to do more and more to cover it up. One slip of the tongue, and Cheng Zimei would be able to uncover everything. It was only that her personality was carefree that she appeared fickle on the surface, but all those that were accepted into the Research Institute were of above-average intelligence. Having signed the confidentiality agreement, he needed to safeguard Qu Moyu’s secrets.
”You’re not telling me the whole truth,” said Cheng Zimei, glaring at him.
“Let me explain to you the gossip going around right now.”
“Stop-…-”
“We don’t know how and why this surveillance footage got leaked. It’s probably not because of you two but because of Yan Mingxiu. If the footage had been of Yan Mingxiu carrying you out, that would have been too amazing, since he only just got married. And the guy he married is an up-and-coming movie star! That kind of gossip would have seriously gone viral. But within our company itself-”
“-this is our Crown Prince we’re talking about!” Cheng Zimei became visibly excited all of a sudden. “Quick! tell me what it feels like to be carried like a princess by the Crown Prince!”
Shen Dai looked at her helplessly.
He was convinced that this internal leak of surveillance footage had something to do with Yan Mingxiu. Too bad they didn’t manage to find any headline-worthy news. Capitalising on Zhou Xiang’s hot popularity, the paparazzi were watching them intently in hopes of finding a big scoop. A movie star that had enjoyed phenomenal success in recent years, Zhou Xiang – Yan Mingxiu’s wife – also happened to be a Beta. Nobody had ever expected that a top-tier Alpha would marry a Beta. A Beta without pheromones who could never be marked; What would be the point in that?
Shen Dai felt like an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire. He thought back for a moment to the brief impression he had of Yan Mingxiu. Aside from his breathtaking appearance, what stuck out in his mind most clearly was his firm refusal.
Back then, Yan Mingxiu had misunderstood his ‘Help me’, thinking that what he wanted was a temporary mark.
When an Omega was in heat, an Alpha’s temporary mark could be used to soothe them to avoid potentially graver consequences. And in some urgent situations, there was really no other choice. But this could be sensitive when it came to those that were already married; at any rate, nobody would want their own Alpha to mark someone else – even temporarily.
He couldn’t help thinking that these paparazzi were never going to find the scoop that they so desperately wanted.
“Oh my god!” shouted Cheng Zimei, hitting the table all of a sudden, giving Shen Dai a fright. She immediately hunched her shoulders over, looking around to see that there was no one, then said under her breath, “You guys are so fated to be. Think about it, the first time when that incident happened in the laboratory, he was the one who saved you. And then this time he helped you once again. It’s exactly like a TV drama. The idol dramas about rich CEOs these days all turn out this way.”
“Watch a bit less, don’t you have enough work to do?”
“Don’t change the subject! And then what happened after? He sent you to the hospital? What did you guys talk about? What did you guys do? No wait, he couldn’t have used his car, right? Holy crap, it’s a Royce! And after the hospital? Did he come visit you? Did he do anything to show his concern? Are you still in contact now?” These rapid-fire questions were like beans dropping non-stop into a large pile. Her whole being was visibly brimming with excitement.
“Nothing. I was so uncomfortable I almost puked in his car. After that it was his driver who sent me to the hospital. I don’t really remember much now. In any case we didn’t talk much. And he was only helping me because I’m his employee, anyway.”
“I don’t believe it. You definitely caught his attention.” Cheng Zimei pondered, “I just remembered, during your presentation, didn’t he also stand up for you and argue with Qu Chengchen? It’s so obvious!”
“He was just defending his project.”
Shaking his head, Shen Dai said, “Please stop. Let’s do a bit of work already. We‘ve done absolutely nothing today.”
“How are you so single-minded?” Cheng Zimei glared at him in exasperation, “Haven’t you always had a crush on the Crown Prince? Such a perfect top-tier Alpha. And since he saved you, you totally have a chance now! You’re good-looking and intelligent, with a great personality as well! You should find a way to get closer to him!”
He covered his face with his palm: “Can you be a little more realistic?”
“There’s still a chance, Love is blind after all!”
“Wow! It just started trending on Weibo. Even though the Crown Prince doesn’t use social media, he’s still pretty well-known. Have you heard of the ‘Apex Predator Club’?”
“What’s that”
“It’s a meme being shared by netizens. They’ve compiled a list of every eligible top-tier Alpha in the country, from every profession and industry, politics, business, academia, culture, sports, and so on and so forth. There are so many of them! The minute there’s any gossip involving a top-tier Alpha it gets shared. The hottest gossip today has to be the one about you.”
“Enough, enough! I’m begging you to stop!” sighed Shen Dai, pushing away the mobile phone in her hand. “I’m depressed enough already as it is, please let me off.”
Only when Cheng Zimei saw how truly agitated he was did she grumble, “What a pity. If it were any other Omega, they would have pounced on him ages ago. Everyone wants to seduce the Crown Prince, he even fired three people because of it. You have such a golden opportunity. Sigh, I guess you just don’t have it in you.”
Shen Dai thought to himself: Indeed, I just don’t have it in me.
Going home that night on the subway, Shen Dai clicked open Weibo. He had resisted the urge the entire afternoon, but couldn’t stand it any longer and checked the rankings, only to realise that he already couldn’t find anything about it. There were still a few related topics that were being discussed, but many of the popular posts had already been deleted. The public relations capabilities of the Xingzhou corporation were readily apparent.
When he returned to the Qu residence, it was just in time for dinner. Tonight was one of those rare evenings where Qu Moyu did not have a social engagement and was back early.
The moment he stepped inside, he saw that the young master of the house had already changed into his home clothes and was about to start eating.
Qu Moyu looked at Shen Dai as if everything were normal: “You’re back. Come have dinner.”
There was a flicker in Shen Dai’s eyes. He didn’t know what Qu Moyu would think of the whole uproar given that he was the cause of it. Qu Moyu hated attracting the attention of people at the company, most likely because he hated the bother. Yet now that he had become the target of discussion, and in an ambiguous topic as well, he was sure to be unhappy.
Shen Dai said his greetings, then quietly took the seat next to him.
“All of you, leave,” said Qu Moyu.
In tacit agreement, Uncle Heng and the other staff quickly made themselves scarce. At once there were only the two of them left in that massive dining room.
Shen Dai quietly took in a deep breath: “Today I…”
“Were you affected by it?”
“Uh, no, there was nothing.”
“Did anyone else ask about it?”
“You just happened to run into me on the way to the bathroom. In fact, it was Old Wu who sent me to the hospital.”
Qu Moyu nodded and glanced at him nonchalantly, “I’ve come to realise that you’re actually quite a handful. Though, it’s not your fault.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“I just said it’s not your fault,” repeated Qu Moyu. “The person who leaked the videotape has already been found and dealt with.”
“That’s good then.”
“But in the future you need to be more tight-lipped. The incident from three years ago has been suppressed, and all of the people who were there were made to sign non-disclosure agreements, but there’s no such thing in this world as an impenetrable wall. You have to be more mindful, with your friends, for example.” Qu Moyu swirled his glass and took a sip, adding, “I don’t like to be involved in anything else besides work when I’m at the company, least of all my private life.”
Yet again Shen Dai felt the same kind of invisible pressure. He answered softly, “Understood.”
“Go ahead and eat.”
Shen Dai picked up his chopsticks and at the table full of delicacies but had no appetite at all.
“You’re not hungry?” Qu Moyu lifted Shen Dai’s chin by his thumb and forefinger and asked with a half-smile, “How about an appetiser?”
Shen Dai gave him a look of genuine confusion.
Qu Moyu looked downwards, his eyes darting toward his lap, then he spread his legs apart.
After Shen Dai grasped his meaning, his mind went blank for a second. His face started to burn, reaching all the way up to his ears.
“Mhm?” Qu Moyu applied a bit more pressure between his thumb and forefinger until Shen Dai’s chin started to hurt, yet the expression on his face still appeared to be gentle.
Shen Dai drew in a deep breath, heart pounding like a drum. He very much wanted to get up and leave, only, he didn’t dare. Whether it was his own social position or his physicality, neither would ever let him dare disobey a single word from Qu Moyu. Bravery and self-respect meant nothing in the face of absolute power.
Besides, he knew that Qu Moyu was already angry. This was just his indirect way of punishing him. If he had any brains at all, he would not provoke a ferocious beast, much less at a time like this.
From that empty dining room came the most indescribable sounds.
Qu Moyu was looking down, studying him. The fair and calm face had changed, completely flushed from stimulation. Tears were spilling out from the corners of his clear eyes, making them look pitifully adorable. He stroked Shen Dai’s hair tenderly. The satisfaction of conquest surpassed even the pleasures of the body.
