Chapter 6

After sending those messages, Shu Baiyu did not receive a reply from Lu Xingzhou before the doctor called his number.

He put his phone back into his pocket and entered the consultation room.

His phone was set to vibrate. After completing the initial machine-assisted examination, the doctor looked over the report, returned to his chair, and began asking him questions.

“When was your last heat?”

Shu Baiyu fell silent for a moment.

“Yesterday.”

“Yesterday doesn’t count. That wasn’t a heat at all.” The doctor frowned and shook his head. “That was only a mild bonding fever caused by a pheromone disorder. Didn’t you say you were almost completely recovered by the next day? A heat cycle couldn’t possibly be that short.”

He paused before adding, “Even with an Alpha’s help, stolen contentyou couldn’t have recovered so quickly.”

The doctor had seen it during the examination.

This Omega looked rather obedient, yet once his collar was opened, the gland underneath had clearly been marked with an extraordinarily deep bite. One look was enough to tell that the Alpha who had temporarily marked him had a terrible temperament.

Furthermore, it was already so late, and this was such an important physical examination, yet the other person had not even accompanied him.

It was obvious how pitiful this Omega was.

Besides…

The doctor glanced at the information recorded on the examination report and became even more certain.

Even as he was thinking this, however, the phone in the Omega’s pocket vibrated several times in succession.

The Omega also looked extremely eager to check it.

The doctor pushed up his glasses and spoke meaningfully.

“…You may read your messages first.”

After receiving permission, Shu Baiyu did not stand on ceremony. He immediately took out his phone and checked Lu Xingzhou’s messages.

Lu Xingzhou had not replied at first, but once he did, several messages arrived in a row.

Lu Xingzhou: Why did you send me that kind of photograph?

Lu Xingzhou: Recall it.

Lu Xingzhou: …

Lu Xingzhou: You went to the hospital. What did the examination say?

Lu Xingzhou: Get a full-body examination while you’re there.

Lu Xingzhou: Have your pheromones checked.

As though worried that Shu Baiyu would fail to understand him, Lu Xingzhou had deliberately added the final message.

Shu Baiyu looked at the long string of messages.

He did not particularly like receiving messages from other people, so his brows drew together slightly before he responded to them one by one.

Shu Baiyu: I sent it to show you my allergic reaction.

Shu Baiyu: The recall period expired.

Shu Baiyu: ?

Shu Baiyu: I’m fine. I can still be saved.

Shu Baiyu: Oh.

Shu Baiyu: It’s being checked now.

While he replied, the doctor watched him type with tightly furrowed brows.

One look was enough to tell that this Omega was being strictly controlled by the person at home. He even had to report everything he did outside in real time.

The doctor had not encountered such a possessive and controlling Alpha in a long time.

For the sake of this young Omega, he felt he needed to properly educate the other person.

With that thought, he looked at Shu Baiyu, who was still staring at his phone screen with his brows drawn together.

He cleared his throat.

“Mr. Shu, if the other person is very worried, I suggest keeping him on the phone so he can listen to the diagnosis with you. That would be fine.”

Shu Baiyu finally raised his head and looked at him in confusion.

“Call him directly.” The doctor nodded solemnly and urged him, “Make the call.”

Shu Baiyu found this difficult to understand, but the doctor appeared very firm.

Thus, the telephone number Lu Xingzhou had only recently given him was called.

After a brief ringing tone, the call connected.

Lu Xingzhou’s puzzled voice came through the phone.

“Hello?”

Shu Baiyu continued staring at the doctor with the same confused expression.

After a long moment, he said, “The doctor suggested I call you. Listen with me.”

The other end fell silent for a moment.

Then Lu Xingzhou abruptly asked, “Do you have AIDS?”

“…”

Shu Baiyu lowered his head and checked the diagnostic report.

“No.”

After he spoke, he seemed to hear the person on the other end relax slightly.

Then Lu Xingzhou asked, “Rabies?”

Shu Baiyu replied, “…No.”

“Then what is it?”

“…”

“Ahem.” The doctor intervened at the proper moment and pulled the conversation back on track. “Since the call has already connected, I’ll need to take several minutes of both your time.”

At the doctor’s gesture, Shu Baiyu placed the phone on the desk between them.

The person on the other unauthorized copyend remained silent, but the screen was still lit. Lu Xingzhou had not hung up.

Seeing this, the doctor inwardly sighed with relief.

He took a deep breath and continued.

“…Mr. Shu’s examination results are out. His heat cycles are extremely irregular, and his control over his pheromones is also unusually extreme. I suspect he has been suppressing everything inside his body without ever attempting to release it, which has resulted in his current pheromone leakage.”

“He has a pheromone disorder. He needs the understanding and care of his family, especially during intimate moments. You need to pay attention to his feelings instead of caring only about your own pleasure and treating him however you like.”

Before Shu Baiyu could fully process those words, Lu Xingzhou had clearly already understood them.

Shu Baiyu did not know whether he had imagined it, but when Lu Xingzhou spoke again, his voice sounded even colder.

“What if we aren’t intimate?”

The doctor let out an exclamation.

That would be terrible.

“I would recommend being a little more intimate…”

Before he could finish, Lu Xingzhou changed the subject and asked Shu Baiyu, “What kind of appointment did you book?”

Shu Baiyu glanced at the identification badge on the doctor’s coat, but it was partially covered and impossible to read.

He lowered his eyes.

“A specialist appointment.”

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

The doctor could tell from his tone that he had struck a sensitive point.

He hurriedly raised his voice to drown him out and continued:

“A pheromone disorder isn’t necessarily serious, but it isn’t necessarily simple either. It is serious because it is difficult to cure completely, but simple because the treatment itself is easy.”

“The condition manifests as uncontrollable pheromone leakage. It is quite similar to the experience Mr. Shu described from last night. This has also affected his heat cycle, making it extremely irregular. Fortunately, he has you as his partner, so treating the condition will be much simpler…”

“Wait.”

The people on both ends of the call interrupted him almost simultaneously.

Without hesitation, Shu Baiyu corrected him.

“He isn’t my partner.”

Lu Xingzhou also paused briefly before saying, “We aren’t in a romantic relationship.”

The doctor froze.

His eyes suddenly widened, and he even stumbled over his words.

“You—you aren’t a couple? How could that be? The report clearly shows that your pheromone compatibility exceeds ninety percent!”

Besides, if they were not a couple, why had the Alpha bitten him so hard?

The doctor shakily removed his glasses and wiped them.

After putting them back on, he leaned closer and carefully examined the report again.

Unable to understand it, he began muttering to himself.

“That can’t be right… It can’t be. The compatibility [stolen content]is so high… No… That’s impossible…”

On the other end of the phone, Lu Xingzhou’s voice abruptly disappeared for several seconds after hearing that.

Then he asked:

“…What’s the compatibility rate?”

The doctor answered instinctively, “Over ninety percent…”

Lu Xingzhou fell silent again.

Shu Baiyu frowned and lowered his gaze toward the phone.

The illuminated screen still showed that the call was connected. Otherwise, he might have suspected that Lu Xingzhou had silently hung up.

Still, Shu Baiyu felt somewhat guilty that the misunderstanding had arisen because of him.

“We aren’t a couple. I’m hanging up now.”

As he spoke, he reached for the phone.

Just before he could end the call, however, a slightly harsh sound of a window opening came from the other side.

Lu Xingzhou had apparently been in a crowded environment before. There had been faint background noise throughout the call.

Now, however, he seemed to have deliberately stepped outside to continue speaking with them. Even his voice sounded spacious and distant in the unusually quiet surroundings.

“What’s the treatment?”

Shu Baiyu paused.

The doctor’s eyes also lit up.

Naturally, it would be best if his patient received treatment. Even if the two were not a couple, they should at least be friends, which would still make treatment much easier.

He immediately brightened.

“It’s very simple. Find some time regularly to bathe him in your pheromones. You don’t need to force yourself to maintain it for too long, since every Alpha has limited stamina. At first, use only a small amount and keep the sessions short. Then gradually increase both the amount and duration until his pheromones stabilize.”

“Secondly, he will definitely experience pheromone leakage again in the future. In that state, he will be unable to control his own pheromones. When that happens, you need to remain beside him, notice the leakage promptly, and help suppress it. Inhibitors are effective most of the time.”

“There is one more point you need to pay attention to.”

“Mr. Shu, please record your monthly heat cycles. All of your physical indicators are normal. Generally speaking, this situation should be impossible.”

“Unless, in the past, you repeatedly injected or took suppressive medication several days before your heat began, using it to suppress the release of pheromones and weaken or even prevent your heat entirely…”

“However, Mr. Shu doesn’t seem like someone who would read the original at bailiantales.comdo that. I’ll continue searching for another cause.”

After giving his instructions, the doctor adjusted his glasses and finally revealed a satisfied smile.

“All right. Those are the current treatment methods. Thank you both for cooperating.”

Shu Baiyu stood, accepted the diagnostic report, and was escorted out of the consultation room by the doctor.

After leaving the department, the call screen remained illuminated.

Shu Baiyu looked at it.

Lu Xingzhou had not spoken again, but he must have been holding the phone close. Shu Baiyu could hear his slightly slow breathing.

In fact, Lu Xingzhou had heard everything the doctor said clearly, including that final speculation.

There truly were Omegas who attempted to prevent their heat cycles from occurring.

They frequently purchased large quantities of suppressive medication through unregulated institutions.

Unlike the ordinary inhibitors Omegas used during heat, these drugs had severe long-term side effects.

Generally, those who would rather use such medication than endure their heat cycles were people incapable of accepting the secondary sex they had differentiated into.

Although Lu Xingzhou had only spent a brief day or two with Shu Baiyu, he genuinely had not detected any signs of self-loathing from him.

By then, Shu Baiyu had reached the hospital entrance.

He picked up his phone for what was perhaps the third or fourth time and checked the screen.

Seeing that the call was still connected, he finally could not resist speaking.

“Remember to hang up.”

Lu Xingzhou’s wandering thoughts were abruptly pulled back.

“Why…?”

Shu Baiyu answered seriously, “The person who hangs up first has to pay for the call.”

He had just received the hospital’s payment notification.

When he checked his bank account, he discovered that there was barely any money left, even though only half the month had passed.

Unless he lived extremely frugally, he would not survive until the end of the month.

“…”

This time, the silence on the phone lasted a long while.

Lu Xingzhou finally found his voice.

He seemed to laugh softly on the other end, but Shu Baiyu still noticed.

“Who told you calls are charged that way? The telephone company could sue you for defamation.”

Shu Baiyu gave an indifferent “Oh” and lowered his eyelids, silently calculating that he would now need to deduct another telephone expense from this month’s budget.

He did not know how the original character had spent his money.

Even after becoming estranged from him, the Jian family continued transferring money into his account. The original character had refused to use it out of spite.

Even so, he should have considered his own situation and stopped spending money so extravagantly.

There was barely anything left now, even less than Shu Baiyu had possessed in his original world.

Lu Xingzhou suddenly changed the subject.

“Doesn’t the Jian family give you living expenses?”

Shu Baiyu did not want to answer that question, so he skipped over it.

“Is there anything else you want to say?”

Had he not planned to become familiar with Lu Xingzhou, he would ordinarily have hung up without another word by now.

“Yes,” Lu Xingzhou said. “Have you left the hospital?”

“Mm.”

“All right. Come to my house.”