After Unbinding the Simp System, I'm Targeted by the Villain - Chapter 5

The clerk froze, her eyes quickly scanning Duan Huaijin from head to toe.

This guy didn’t look like an Omega at all; he was probably buying them for a partner.

“Don’t have any?”

Duan Huaijin’s voice was deep and magnetic, carrying a steady composure that didn’t seem to belong to someone his age.

The clerk felt her ears turn warm and quickly replied, “Ah, we have them! Just follow this shelf to the end and turn right; you’ll see them.”

Following her directions, Duan Huaijin found the Omega supplies section.

The shelves weren’t high, but they were packed with a dizzying array of different brands of suppressants, each offering various scents.

Duan Huaijin instinctively reached for the unscented ones. He was used to using unscented suppressants himself and didn’t care for the fancy varieties.

But just as his fingertips touched the box, he inexplicably recalled that night in the bathroom—the faint scent of peach that had drifted past his nose when his canines pierced that delicate skin.

“…”

Duan Huaijin paused. His index finger slid across the boxes until he finally selected the peach-scented suppressants on the lower shelf.

He took several boxes—all of the most expensive brand—and grabbed quite a few scent blockers as well.

By the time he finished checking out, the wages he had just received were gone before they could even get warm in his pocket.

This was enough to last Yu Chucheng for half a year.

Duan Huaijin hooked the heavy bag with his finger and returned home to find his foster parents still awake.

His foster mother, Lin Mei, had once been a maid for the Zhang family. After swapping the babies, she had quit her job out of guilt. She now worked in a textile factory, using machines to make clothes by day and returning home at night to mend the worn-out trousers of her husband, Duan Haixiang, who worked on construction sites.

Seeing Duan Huaijin return, Lin Mei didn’t even look up. “Go wash the dishes in the kitchen. Your father is drunk tonight and has no strength; I’m busy right now.”

It had been a long time since anyone had dared to order him around so naturally; it felt somewhat foreign to his ears.

Duan Huaijin lowered his eyelashes, hiding the cold sneer in his eyes.

In his past life, he only found out at the very end that Lin Mei had long since reunited with her biological son, Zhang Hanzhou. At this point, shortly after high school graduation, Zhang Hanzhou had already started sending Lin Mei money every month.

They kept Duan Huaijin in the dark and played their parts perfectly—so perfectly that it had taken Duan Huaijin a great deal of effort to figure it out.

But he didn’t plan to expose them yet. His memories were like a “gold finger” (cheat code) from the heavens; he was going to “boil the frog in lukewarm water,” playing with them slowly to avoid alerting the enemy.

“Okay.”

Having lived with him for eighteen years, Lin Mei caught the slight difference in his tone.

But before she could look up to investigate, Duan Huaijin closed his bedroom door, blocking her gaze.

The room was tiny. For someone nearly 190cm tall, it felt oppressive and cramped. Two steps took him to the window, and any turn risked brushing his clothes against the dusty walls. But it was neat and clean.

Duan Huaijin placed the bag on the desk and swiped his phone open to find Yu Chucheng’s WeChat.

The guy’s profile picture was a cat, which actually suited him quite well.

Duan Huaijin took a photo of the suppressants and scent blockers spilling out of the bag and sent it over.

Duan Huaijin: 【You called an ambulance for me that day, yet I bit you. I’m truly sorry. I didn’t know how to make it up to you, so I took the liberty of buying some things at the supermarket. You should be able to use them. Bring them to you next time you come to the cafe.】

When the message arrived, Yu Chucheng was wallowing in misery at a bar, drinking with Ji Zhou.

The last time they were together, he had been starving, yet he’d fled the internet cafe before the food arrived. Ji Zhou had sensed something was wrong then and had been unable to reach him afterward, fearing something terrible had happened.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a tragedy—he’d just changed genders.

Ji Zhou patted Yu Chucheng’s shoulder. “Look on the bright side. Being an Omega isn’t so bad. See? I’m not even making fun of you.”

Yu Chucheng rolled his eyes. If Ji Zhou wasn’t holding back a laugh so hard his mouth was twitching, he might have believed him.

The phone vibrated twice. Yu Chucheng picked it up with bleary eyes, and his face instantly darkened.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Zhou leaned over curiously. Upon seeing the message, he nearly spat out his drink and then failed to suppress a laugh. “I’m just saying… it was just one bite. Aren’t you two being a bit too flirty?”

An Alpha marks an Omega in broad daylight, then sends suppressants out of “guilt.” What was the difference between that and sending someone a box of condoms after a one-night stand, promising to “wear one next time”?

Yu Chucheng felt like he was holding a hot potato and nearly dropped the phone.

He replied expressionlessly: 【No need. It’s really fine. I won’t accept the stuff.】

As for that internet cafe, he never wanted to step foot in it again for as long as he lived.

Duan Huaijin: 【I understand if you don’t want to see me. You can have your friend come pick them up.】

Yu Chucheng: 【Just return them. My friend says he doesn’t have time.】

Ji Zhou’s eyes widened. “I have ti—”

Yu Chucheng snapped, “Shut up.”

Duan Huaijin arched an eyebrow: 【The packaging is already torn; I can’t return them.】

He reached out, tore the transparent plastic wrap off the boxes, threw it into the trash, and took another photo as “proof.”

Yu Chucheng: “…”

If anyone else had done this, Yu Chucheng would have told them they brought it on themselves and ignored it.

But the other party was Duan Huaijin. In the early stages, he was an insignificant “nobody” with no power. The original book said very little about him at eighteen. Yu Chucheng couldn’t grasp his current temperament and feared accidentally offending the villain and ending up on his hit list.

Ji Zhou, ever the spectator, added fuel to the fire: “Hey, I know this brand. It’s the Rolls-Royce of suppressants. Zero additives, officially certified by medical institutes to have no side effects. I heard one shot costs dozens of yuan. All these boxes must have cost him several hundred at least. Even I wouldn’t splurge on these for myself. This guy is pretty generous.”

Yu Chucheng’s headache intensified.

He couldn’t return them, and Duan Huaijin couldn’t use them. Normal suppressants cost a few yuan; these were ten times that. Given Duan Huaijin’s current standard of living, this purchase probably bled his wallet dry.

No matter how much Yu Chucheng feared the “Late-Game Duan Huaijin,” the current version was just a poor kid who didn’t know his true identity. He had done nothing wrong yet lived such a hard life, working part-time for tuition, and was now sincerely trying to make amends. No matter how much Yu Chucheng wanted to just slack off, he still had a conscience.

Yu Chucheng sighed gloomily: 【Thanks then. I’ll come get them on Friday.】

After sending it, Yu Chucheng shut off his phone, wanting to see no more.

He took a sip of his drink, smacking his lips, but it tasted bitter.

Wasn’t he here to drink his sorrows away? Why was he only getting more sorrowful? This was not the beautiful life he had imagined.

Ji Zhou didn’t know why Yu Chucheng’s mood was so low, assuming he was still bothered by becoming an Omega. He clinked his glass against Yu Chucheng’s, suddenly remembering something.

“Hey—after Hao Jia rejected you last time, you’re completely over him, right?”

Yu Chucheng rested his chin on his hand, looking like a martyr. He muttered, “How could I not be? Besides, we’re ‘hitting the same number’ (competing roles) now. Why?”

“He couldn’t reach you afterward, so he messaged me. He said the ring is still with him and asked when you’d be free to take it back.”

“Tell him not to bother. It wasn’t that much money anyway.”

Ji Zhou couldn’t sit still upon hearing that. Yu Chucheng’s family was loaded, but Ji Zhou came from an ordinary background. He slammed the table, shaking Yu Chucheng by the neck in exasperation. “You wasteful son of a…! If you don’t want it, give it to me! I could sell that thing for a fortune.”

“If you want it, go get it yourself. I’m not stopping you. Also—” Yu Chucheng struggled to break free from Ji Zhou’s grip, giving him a petty, fake smile. “Please remember that I am an Omega now. Isn’t you being this close a bit too ‘flirty’?”

Ji Zhou scoffed dismissively. “Relax. Beta or Omega, I’m friends with you, not your gender. Even if we slept in the same bed right now, we’d still wake up as innocent bros tomorrow morning.”

“Forget it. If you really consider me a bro, rein in those pheromones. I’m practically being suffocated by you.”

Ji Zhou was confused. ” I’m not leaking pheromones. I even sprayed scent blocker today. Don’t talk nonsense; I still want to find a sweet, soft girlfriend in the future.”

“Then why is it so stuffy here? There’s a distinct smell of sea salt.”

Since his differentiation, Yu Chucheng’s sense of smell had become much sharper. He sniffed around, unable to stand the air anymore, intending to go out for a breath of fresh air.

But the moment he stood up, he felt the strength drain from his body. His legs turned to cotton, and he lost his balance, falling to his knees.

Ji Zhou gasped, immediately dropping his glass. “Yu Chucheng!”