Chapter 32: A Shocking Revelation

“Breakfast: steamed egg with minced pork, a serving of crystal soup dumplings, a cup of sugar-free freshly ground soy milk. Lunch: skinless chicken thighs, winter melon and pork rib soup, steamed fish, and broccoli…”

Shen Zheming sat at the table, listening to Er Bai Wu’s daily report while writing out the solution to a problem on paper.

Beside his hand was a small pot of mint grown at home.

During the second day of his rut, when the pheromone surge was at its most intense, Shen Zheming had asked the servants to bring it in.

Even with his usual strong self-control and ability to suppress his emotions, when things got truly uncontrollable, even an S-level had to bow to instinct.

Shen Zheming had to admit that it wasn’t just Lu Shi who was interested in his pheromones; he also quite liked the scent of Lu Shi’s.

Lu Shi’s level was still low, so he didn’t have great control over his pheromones. Sometimes when he got close, his cool, refreshing mint fragrance would unconsciously wrap around him.

He hadn’t expected the potted plant to actually help; at best, he thought it might refresh his mind a little, since real mint and pheromone scents were still different.

Unexpectedly, smelling this fresh scent actually eased his irritability and anxiety quite a bit.

Shen Zheming had called Shen Luo and asked her to take the pheromone samples extracted from Lu Shi at the hospital and his own samples to run a compatibility test.

The result was 78%.

Shen Luo said that because Lu Shi’s gland had been damaged, the result wasn’t very reliable.

But what could be confirmed was that Shen Zheming’s and Lu Shi’s actual compatibility should be very high. She’d never seen an F-level match this well with an S-level.

Shen Zheming put down his pen and asked Er Bai Wu on the screen, “Why did you stop? There’s dinner too, right?”

Er Bai Wu tilted his head and shook it with some regret. “He’s not eating at home tonight.”

At the Chen family’s celebration banquet, more than twenty people were invited. Among them were many that Lu Shi had known in his previous life.

That fat, big-eared Boss Pang, who looked friendly and kind, would later be reported by his wife for embezzlement after he cheated and kept five mistresses outside.

That man with a high hairline, wearing glasses, looking refined and like a social elite, would be arrested a few years later for forcibly molesting an Omega, and would be exposed as having a foot fetish.

Familiar faces flashed before him. They all drove luxury cars and wore famous watches, looking glamorous and splendid.

Who would have thought that in a few years, some would still have grand banquets and make a fortune, while others would end up in prison, separated from their wives and children?

Now, looking at a room full of “old acquaintances,” especially those Lu Shi had once had to deal with duplicitously for business, they wore fake smiles and recited the most hackneyed flattery.

He finally realized how fake his own past behavior had seemed to others.

No wonder Gather Commerce had looked down on him back then.

A noblewoman walked up to Zhu Wanqing. “It’s been many days. Youxuan is increasingly showing the demeanor of you and your husband.”

Chen Youxuan was wearing a suit tailored by Zhu Wanqing, with a dark blue bow tie at his neck. His hair had been carefully styled, every strand exuding refinement.

Zhu Wanqing looked at her son with satisfaction.

“I heard that this successful cooperation also had a part from Youxuan,” the noblewoman said with a smile.

Chen Youxuan showed a shy and humble smile. “No, I just helped convey the elders’ intentions in the middle.”

“Oh, you’re too modest. If I had a son as good at studying and with such a good personality as you, I’d wake up laughing in my dreams.”

Zhu Wanqing wore a strapless mermaid dress with a jacket draped over her, hands folded on her lap. The pearl necklace made her look even more aristocratic.

Chen Youxuan was her pride and joy, the one she could show off. Hearing others praise him was like being praised herself, putting a shine on her face.

But the other one…

Zhu Wanqing’s gaze fell on Lu Shi, who was sitting on a chair in the distance looking at his phone.

From the moment he arrived, Lu Shi had been focused on his own business, rarely lifting his head. He seemed to be swiping through some practice questions on his phone, choosing one after another quickly, as if the surroundings had nothing to do with him, and he was just here to fill a seat and go through the motions.

Today, Lu Shi was dressed very plainly. His face was decent, and his temperament wasn’t bad, but the fabric of his clothes looked very ordinary.

Zhu Wanqing glanced at him twice then looked away.

Chen Qiming had ordered a large cake for tonight’s celebration banquet. The crowd went back and forth declining the honor of cutting it.

Everyone thought that such an important task as cutting the cake should be given to the most important person, but no one dared to say they were the most important.

The back-and-forth dragged on for a while.

Chen Youxuan, sitting across the round table, suggested, “In that case, why not decide by drawing lots?”

Immediately, people echoed.

“Drawing lots works. Whoever draws it gets to cut.”

“That’s a good idea. Let’s draw lots.”

“Young people have quick minds, so clever.”

For fairness, to avoid gossip from those with ulterior motives, everyone at the table got a chance to cut the cake.

When the slip with a number was passed to Lu Shi, he was replying to Shen Zheming’s message on his phone.

Shen Zheming had sent a detailed solution process. Even during his rut, any question Lu Shi asked would get an answer within two hours.

Lu Shi exaggeratedly typed: Thank you, Brother Shen, for generously imparting your knowledge.

Shen Zheming: Going out to eat tonight?

Lu Shi: Yeah, at Bihai Chenwan. Want to come? A lot of people here have mentioned you.

Even though none of the Shen family were present, the Shen family and Gather Commerce were still the focal points of every dinner conversation.

Shen Zheming didn’t directly answer Lu Shi’s question, but said: I’m coming back tomorrow.

Lu Shi raised an eyebrow.

Meaning he could leave now.

But he had already packed up pretty much everything today, so even if Shen Zheming came back today, it would be fine.

Others opened the slips in front of them. Lu Shi casually followed suit.

The people next to him got blank slips with nothing on them. Only the slip in Lu Shi’s hand had a black circle drawn on it.

Lu Shi: “…”

Some wanted to cut the cake but kept declining out of face. Some didn’t want to cut, couldn’t even be bothered to stand, yet ended up with this bad luck.

Since they were all juniors, Chen Youxuan sat close to him and immediately saw the slip in his hand.

Chen Youxuan’s eyes flickered. “Congratulations, you won.”

Chen Qiming never expected that the one-in-twenty-something chance would fall on Lu Shi.

But with so many people watching, the rules they’d set couldn’t be easily broken. Plus, the buzz about Lu Shi being taken away hadn’t died down yet. It wouldn’t be good if someone made a fuss claiming he didn’t care for his biological son.

“Xiao Shi.” Chen Qiming called out. “The cake is in the lounge next to the banquet hall. Go with the server and push it over.”

Lu Shi casually folded the slip and tossed it aside, ignoring the probing, surprised, even contemptuous looks from the table. He stood up without a care.

The server led the way.

The banquet hall at Bihai Chenwan was very large. Even though the lounge was next door, they had to walk down a corridor.

The lounge where the cake was kept had its lights on. The server stood at the door holding it open for him.

As soon as Lu Shi entered…

“Click.”

The door behind him suddenly closed.

At first, Lu Shi thought the server had lost his grip and the door had closed automatically.

But when he pushed the cake cart in front of him and tried to push the door hard twice only to find it wouldn’t budge, he realized something was wrong.

The door seemed to have been locked from the outside.

No sooner had this thought popped into his head than…

“Bang!”

The lights in the lounge made a loud noise like a light bulb exploding, plunging the entire room into pitch-black darkness.

Had someone set him up?

But Lu Shi had encountered this kind of thing many times in his previous life. He stood calmly in front of the door, using his phone’s light to knock hard again.

Ding-dong!

His phone’s notification bar suddenly popped up with a news alert.

At the same time, the phones of everyone in the banquet hall buzzed with ding-dong sounds in succession. They all received the same news push.

The fingers holding the phone tightened slightly. The cold light from the screen pressed against his cheek, illuminating his face half in light and half in shadow.

Lu Shi slowly read the news three times, word by word.

[Shocking! True Grade of the Chen Family’s Real Son Exposed: Bottom-Level F-Tier Inferior Omega!]

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