Chapter 37: An Uncontainable Love

Jiang Lu gasped violently, completely abandoning any pretense of composure. His face deathly pale, he pointed a finger at Guan Qing’s nose.

“I truly don’t understand what’s so great about you, each and every one of them—”

It was he who had first met Xie Xu. It was he who had first fallen in love with Xie Xu.

“I’ve done so much for him. I could be a surrogate for him, I could… I could give him the entire Jiang family. As long as he wanted it, I could betray my own family for his sake.” Jiang Lu’s lips trembled, his expression contorted. “What can you do for him?”

His tone, brimming with a mix of boastfulness and self-satisfaction, genuinely rattled Guan Qing.

Guan Qing’s mouth fell open.

A powerful sense of absurdity surged within him. Jiang Lu, behaving like a childish, ignorant boy—yet terrifyingly, he was no child.

“You have nothing.”

Jiang Lu’s contorted face settled into his usual arrogance. His delicate, gentle features now struck Guan Qing as utterly grotesque. “You’re a Beta, you don’t have much money, and your career isn’t successful,” Jiang Lu declared.

He seemed to have convinced himself, murmuring, “How could Brother Xu like you? He must have been enchanted by you.”

Guan Qing paused, then spoke.

“I might not truly have anything better than you, but… I love him.”

Jiang Lu scoffed. “Don’t tell me I don’t—”

“Do you love him?” Guan Qing retorted, his expression surprisingly aggressive.

“You can give him so much, but have you ever asked if he actually wants it? You intrude on his life, destroy his love, threaten him, tempt him, force him.”

“You are merely… selfish. You just can’t stand to lose. You are just—”

“Shut up!” Jiang Lu’s body trembled with rage, his face flushed crimson. He had completely lost his temper, lunging forward to grab Guan Qing’s neck.

Guan Qing smiled. “What’s wrong? Did I hit a nerve? Did I sting your pride?”

Having only just recovered from a serious illness, he was no match for an enraged adult male, even an Omega. He could only retreat repeatedly, dodging clumsily. As he did so, Guan Qing sniffed, catching the scent of Jiang Lu’s pheromones.

It wasn’t a floral scent.

It carried a hint of sunshine, pleasant and evocative of scorching sun, summer, and the chirping of cicadas—

Guan Qing frowned.

‘This is clearly Xie Xu’s pheromone.’

Jiang Lu watched his expression, suddenly recalling something. He stopped his attack, primly adjusted his collar, and lifted his chin. As he scrutinized Guan Qing’s face, countless plans flashed through his mind.

An irrational person was always easy to manipulate, and jealousy was the best catalyst for anger.

Guan Qing had been consumed by jealousy before because of this, and this time would be no different.

He had been foolish to forget this crucial step, but fortunately, it wasn’t too late.

Jiang Lu coughed. “Yes, it’s exactly as you’re thinking.”

Guan Qing remained expressionless. “What am I thinking?”

“I was marked by Xie Xu,” Jiang Lu declared, lifting his chin. “Just yesterday.”

He tugged down his collar, feigning casualness, allowing Guan Qing to glimpse the bite mark on the back of his neck.

Guan Qing nodded. “And what else? There should be hickeys and such, right?”

Jiang Lu’s brows furrowed slightly.

He had detected the mockery in Guan Qing’s tone.

“You—”

“I’ll be direct,” Guan Qing stated. “I don’t believe you.”

Jiang Lu studied his expression, which showed no hint of deception, not even a flicker of panic. Jiang Lu’s face turned green, filled with both disbelief and humiliation.

“You actors, it’s quite simple to put marks on yourselves, isn’t it? And pheromone scents aren’t impossible to replicate. Perhaps you even have photos? Whether staged or forced, it would be effortless to take one or two.”

Guan Qing pursed his lips. “I trust my lover.”

It was a peculiar sensation.

He trusted Xie Xu because… he loved Xie Xu.

He knew countless people would present him with so-called ‘evidence’ and ‘seeing is believing,’ but he wasn’t afraid, nor would he be swayed.

In the face of life and death, everything else seemed trivial.

It was as if from that brief experience of losing control over his life, he had gained a flash of insight, seeing himself clearly. He saw his innermost heart, brimming with an almost unbelievable love for Xie Xu, leaving him flustered and caught off guard, able only to surrender meekly when facing Xie Xu.

He was willing to trust Xie Xu, willing to trust him a myriad of times. Even if it happened ten thousand times, his choice would remain the same.

He wasn’t afraid of being let down.

Perhaps he had grown braver in the face of death, or perhaps he had finally truly understood Xie Xu.

Xie Xu wouldn’t hurt him. Xie Xu held the sharpest blade, yet he would always reach out to offer a clumsy, warm embrace.

“I know what Xie Xu is like. I won’t let go.”

The imperfect, flawed, deeply loved… Xie Xu.

He finally realized that understanding someone didn’t mean their love no longer needed mystery to sustain it. Instead, a deeper connection drew them together.

The window behind Guan Qing was wide open. He stood silhouetted against the light, his expression unclear, yet his eyes held a gaze that was firm, unwavering, and filled with power.

Jiang Lu involuntarily took two steps back, then quickly stopped himself. This Guan Qing made him… think of someone.

‘I love Guan Qing, and I won’t let go.’

‘Jiang Lu, you don’t love me. I hope you find the person you truly love soon.’

Yesterday evening, the airport was bustling with people. Xie Xu, pulling his suitcase, had turned back and smiled at him. Xie Xu’s eyes had held the same gentle, resolute gaze, softening instantly when a certain name was mentioned, like a spring tenderly illuminated by moonlight.

That look drove him mad with jealousy.

‘Xie Xu will definitely marry you in the future.’ ‘You and Xie Xu are truly a perfect match.’ ‘Well-matched in social status.’…

He had grown up hearing these words, and he had come to believe them almost instinctively.

But his heart had truly stirred on a rainy day. On his way to the library, he saw Xie Xu holding an umbrella, extending a hand to someone who had fallen in the rain.

In that fleeting second, Xie Xu’s expression replayed endlessly in his mind. Xie Xu’s lips were slightly pursed, the corners of his eyes curved, brimming with tenderness, determination, and… affection. Xie Xu seemed to be immersed in something, unable to break free, sinking deeper and deeper. Such intense affection, even when he tried to hide it, couldn’t help but spill from his eyes and emerge from his ears.

An overflowing, uncontainable love.

Growing up in such a family, he had never witnessed love.

And so, just like that… unexpectedly, he was struck.

Then he fell deeply.

****

Jiang Lu took two steps back.

Guan Qing didn’t look at him again. He turned to return to his hospital room, but suddenly, someone clapped a hand over his mouth and nose.

“You—”

Guan Qing gasped in alarm, quickly holding his breath, but still inevitably inhaled a small amount.

He heard Jiang Lu’s voice, just as it always was—boneless, like a snake slowly gliding beside his ear. “Brother Xu has been deceived by you,” he said. “I’m helping him.”

“If, if it weren’t for you… he would have liked me, wouldn’t he?”

Guan Qing couldn’t speak.

His vision blurred. He heard chaotic footsteps around him; some people approached, and Jiang Lu gave instructions. Someone supported him, intending to take him away once he lost consciousness.

A sense of powerlessness gradually overwhelmed him.

He was helpless.

He had escaped a natural disaster, yet in the end, he couldn’t escape human malice.

His consciousness grew hazy, and he gradually lost track of his thoughts. Suddenly, he heard someone speak near his ear.

A mysterious breeze swept past, carrying the scent of sunshine, as if someone had gently patted his shoulder, tenderly waking him. His muddled awareness gradually sharpened. He opened his eyes and saw Jiang Lu, his face deathly pale.

He felt a familiar, gentle power emanating from himself, the same oppressive aura that had once threatened him… it now enveloped him like a protective deity, capable of warding off all misfortune and hardship.

Guan Qing stared at his own palm.

“You, how could you…”

Jiang Lu trembled uncontrollably, as if threatened by a ferocious beast. He collapsed to the ground, not even daring to lift his head, overcome with fear and submission beneath that immense pressure.

The people around him were scattered, sprawling across the corridor floor.

In the quiet hospital corridor, the scent of disinfectant filled his nostrils, accompanied by a rush of urgent footsteps.

Xie Xu’s assistant, Xiao Zhang, approached Guan Qing, phone in hand, followed by a large group of bodyguards. Xiao Zhang was drenched in sweat, terrified, almost kneeling before Guan Qing.

“Brother Qing, I’m so sorry, truly sorry. It was my oversight at work.”

Despite Xie Xu’s thorough instructions and warnings, Jiang Lu had still found a loophole.

Guan Qing shook his head.

His mind was filled with questions. He touched the back of his neck and walked into the room, remembering the thesis he had been writing for a long time.

The study of psychological factors promoting biological evolution was an interdisciplinary field between psychology and biology, making it challenging for him. However, the results of this research would undoubtedly be groundbreaking.

‘Can psychological factors act as a form of natural selection, promoting evolution?’

He had researched the earliest historical records, an era where only superficial genders, male and female, existed. Later, due to social and natural environmental factors, class stratification emerged. A small number of individuals clearly displayed various physiological characteristics superior to ordinary people. Some groups, facing others, experienced excessively strong psychological factors like fear and deterrence due to class oppression, and then…

Gender differentiation.

There had been no previous research or evidence indicating that Betas could be long-term marked by Alphas.

Nor had there ever been a case where… an Alpha’s dominance appeared on a marked individual, emerging when the marked individual faced danger.

This was too incredible.

Shock, confusion, emotion… he urgently wanted to see Xie Xu at this moment.

“It has never happened before… no, perhaps it has.”

Guan Qing recalled a report he had read about Chris. Chris had once been kidnapped, and then—

Guan Qing tapped the table, suddenly sensing something was amiss.

The letter that had been placed there… was gone.

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