Eighteenth Day of Pretending to Be an Alpha

Chu Mo knew that the two of them were rivals in love, but he was still puzzled by their constant bickering. Why was it that every time they clashed, Chu Yun was never around? To avoid getting caught in their crossfire, Chu Mo said, “I don’t need the medicine. You can take it back.” Eating all those supplements might make him lose his mind.

With that, Chu Mo handed the bag of medicine back to Chi Cheng. Chi Cheng’s face stiffened, and he gritted his teeth, saying, “Chu Mo, don’t come to me when you have a stomachache in the future!” He tossed the medicine into his convertible, got into the driver’s seat, and slammed on the gas. With a roar of anger, Chi Cheng’s sports car sped away—as if he wanted everyone in H City to feel his fury.

Chu Mo was left bewildered in the car’s exhaust. Was Chi Cheng really that upset about him not taking the supplements?

Xie Songchen glanced at the departing sports car, looking quite pleased.

“Let’s go,” Xie Songchen said, suppressing his emotions and looking at Chu Mo with a stern face. “We have a meeting scheduled soon.”

Chu Mo, however, keenly noticed Xie Songchen’s good mood.

“By the way,” Chu Mo said, looking at Xie Songchen with a meaningful expression, “do you really dislike President Chi?”

Xie Songchen lifted his eyelids slightly, answering nonchalantly, “Not familiar.”

“Even though the Chi family has fallen, Chi Cheng is still much more capable than an intern like you,” Chu Mo continued. “If you want to compete with him for Chu Yun, your chances are slim.”

Chu Mo wanted to instill a sense of urgency in Xie Songchen, hoping it would help him grow faster. Unexpectedly, Xie Songchen just gave him a cool glance and responded with a simple, “Oh,” showing no other reaction.

“Of course, in my opinion, neither of you are worthy of Chu Yun,” Chu Mo added, maintaining his persona as a domineering brother.

Still, there was no reaction from Xie Songchen. In the elevator, he suddenly asked Chu Mo, “Do you think everything I’m doing now is to pursue Chu Yun?”

Chu Mo raised an eyebrow, wearing a “what else could it be” expression. “Xie Songchen, do you take me for a fool?”

Xie Songchen pressed his lips together, saying nothing.

“If not for pursuing my brother, why did you go to the same university as him?” Chu Mo stared at Xie Songchen, speaking in a tone that suggested he had seen through everything. “And why did you intern at my company, refusing to leave no matter what?”

Xie Songchen stared back at him, his frown deepening.

“Earlier in the car, you wanted me to agree to something. Wasn’t it to let you be with Chu Yun?” Chu Mo sneered, mocking, “We’re both Alphas. Don’t think I don’t understand your intentions.”

After a long silence, Xie Songchen took a deep breath. Chu Mo thought he heard a hint of helplessness in it.

Chu Mo frowned. “If not, then what do you want me to agree to?”

Xie Songchen looked at Chu Mo for a few seconds. After a moment, the elevator doors opened with a ding. He hesitated briefly, but his answer was the same as in the car.

“Nothing.”

With that, Xie Songchen walked straight out of the elevator. Watching his back, Chu Mo thought to himself, This main character is really tsundere. Clearly, he likes Chu Yun, yet he refuses to say it. It fits the original character setting perfectly: a high and aloof flower, difficult to open up.

In this world, the only person who could make Xie Songchen open up was probably Chu Yun.

⸻

That evening, after work, as soon as Chu Mo got home, Chu Yun hurriedly ran downstairs.

“Ge, did Chi Cheng cause you trouble again?”

Chu Mo was taken aback. “What happened?”

Chu Yun picked up his phone, opened Chi Cheng’s chat, and showed it to Chu Mo.

[Chi Cheng: Tell your brother I won’t accompany him to the hospital anymore.]

[Chi Cheng: I won’t buy him medicine again.]

[Chi Cheng: Who does he think he is?]

[Chi Cheng: Never seen someone so ungrateful.]

[Chi Cheng: Did you hear me? You must tell him what I said!]

[Chu Yun: Chi Cheng, what’s wrong with you?]

[Chi Cheng: Don’t worry about it. It’s between me and your brother.]

Chu Mo’s mouth twitched slightly. “He just gave me some medicine and supplements, and I refused.”

Chu Yun asked, “…Has Chi Cheng fallen so low that he’s selling supplements now?”

Saying this, Chu Yun glanced at the chat again. He couldn’t help but feel that Chi Cheng was acting like a sulking little wife. The resentment was practically oozing from the screen.

Chu Yun was puzzled. Why did the Alphas around him always act so strangely when it came to his brother? What was going on? A seed of confusion was planted in Chu Yun’s mind.

“By the way, has Xie Songchen been bothering you lately?” Chu Mo asked sternly. “Is that kid still harassing you?”

Chu Yun: “Ge, he’s not harassing me.”

Chu Mo: “Really? I don’t believe it.”

Chu Yun: “…”

Chu Yun sighed helplessly. “Ge, I don’t like these Alphas…”

Chu Mo said coldly, “That kid’s been working hard at the company lately, clearly for you.”

Chu Yun held his forehead, thinking, How did he come to that conclusion? Since childhood, Chu Mo had been very wary of the Alphas around Chu Yun. Chu Yun was used to it. But he still seriously told Chu Mo that Xie Songchen didn’t like him at all.

“Doesn’t like you? Then who does he like?” Chu Mo said dismissively. “Besides you, the 100% compatible Omega—who else could he like?”

“Recently, we haven’t had much interaction,” Chu Yun explained seriously. “The most interaction we’ve had is playing basketball together because the academy is hosting a basketball tournament.”

Apart from that, whenever Xie Songchen sought him out, it was to ask about Chu Mo.

Hearing the words basketball tournament, Chu Mo’s expression froze.

Basketball tournament?

This was part of the original plot.

In the original, Chu Yun, as the most outstanding Omega in the school, trained on the same team as Xie Songchen. During the match, Chu Mo secretly went to watch, intending to surprise Chu Yun. However, he saw Xie Songchen give Chu Yun a big hug after winning the game. Chu Mo lost his composure, angrily rushing out of the crowd to harshly reprimand Xie Songchen. From then on, his desire to fire Xie Songchen grew stronger. Yet, Xie Songchen remained unaffected. Not only did his work skills improve rapidly, but his relationship with Chu Yun also warmed up quickly after that hug.

Suppressing his emotions, Chu Mo said in a deep voice, “Alright. I understand.”

⸻

Meanwhile, in a hospital in H City, Xie Songchen walked into a ward, looking at the middle-aged woman on the bed. He frowned.

“Why didn’t you tell me immediately when you fell off your bike?”

The woman’s name was Kang Xu, and she was Xie Songchen’s mother.

“I didn’t want to distract you from work,” Kang Xu smiled, wrinkles appearing at the corners of her eyes, her voice gentle. “Xiao Chen, you finally got into a big company as a secretary. I can’t interfere with that.”

Her temperament was gentle, always speaking and acting slowly, at her own pace, never influenced by others. A part of Xie Songchen’s personality came from her.

“You should’ve told me.”

After checking his mother’s CT and confirming there was no serious issue, Xie Songchen finally relaxed. He went downstairs to buy a bag of fruit and sat by the hospital bed, peeling an orange for Kang Xu.

“Has work been tough lately?” Kang Xu asked, looking at her son’s profile. “I’m fine. You don’t need to come often.”

“It’s not tough,” Xie Songchen replied flatly.

Kang Xu smiled. “You’re still the same as when you were a child—never telling your parents anything.”

Xie Songchen paused in peeling the orange.

As a child, due to his poor family background and reclusive nature, he was often targeted by teachers and classmates at school. He never spoke of it at home. One day, he was bullied in an alley near the school. A passing handsome high school student saved him and told Kang Xu about it—that’s how she found out.

“Did you find out something?” Xie Songchen looked up at Kang Xu.

Kang Xu had heard from colleagues that her son was a perfect match with the brother of a big company president, who happened to be Xie Songchen’s boss. Everyone speculated that Xie Songchen must be having a hard time with him.

“If anything happens, remember to tell Mom,” Kang Xu said, noticing her son’s sharper jawline. “Don’t always report the good news and not the bad. Oh, wait—you don’t even report the good.”

“Nothing worth reporting,” Xie Songchen said calmly.

Seeing that his mother wanted to say more, he quickly changed the subject. “Where is he? Didn’t you say he would come to see you?”

Kang Xu was taken aback. The “he” in question could only refer to one person—his father.

“He’s probably busy,” Kang Xu sighed, a hint of disappointment in her eyes. “We’ve been apart for so long. I can’t keep asking him for help. After all, he’s an outsider now.”

Xie Songchen fell silent. After a while, he spoke coldly. “He’s lying again.”

Throughout his life, the lies from his father were countless. Every promise made to Xie Songchen was almost never fulfilled. He had grown used to it.

“Maybe he wanted to come, just…” Kang Xu tried to say something good about the man.

“No way,” Xie Songchen interrupted, frowning. “You’ve been deceived by him so many times, and you still believe him?”

Kang Xu said nothing. Seeing her son’s icy demeanor, she tried to lighten the mood.

“Xiao Chen, your father still cares about you. He asked about you not long ago.”

But Xie Songchen’s expression only worsened.

“My matters have nothing to do with him. And tell him—if he can’t keep a promise, don’t make it.”

Kang Xu sighed. She could see that her son almost didn’t trust or expect anything from anyone anymore. A large part of that was due to his father’s deceit and irresponsibility.

After thinking for a while, Kang Xu said to him softly, “I won’t bring up your father anymore. But I hope you won’t let him affect you.”

Xie Songchen’s lips pressed tightly together.

“There will always be someone worth your trust and expectations in this world,” Kang Xu said slowly, looking at him. “Maybe one day, you’ll be willing to say things to that person that you wouldn’t even tell your family.”

The room fell into silence.

Xie Songchen handed the peeled orange to Kang Xu. “Maybe.”

Kang Xu smiled as she took it. “You’re all grown up now. Surely there’s someone you like? Is it that Omega you’re perfectly matched with? Even though outsiders doubt you, you still have a chance…”

“It’s not him,” Xie Songchen frowned. “Mom, don’t say such things.”

“Isn’t it?” Kang Xu was surprised, a hint of astonishment in her eyes. “I remember you wrote in your diary that you studied computer science at H University and interned at a big company before graduation—for someone you liked.”

“Mom!” Xie Songchen’s ears turned red, and he raised his voice. “Can you stop talking about how you peeked at my diary?!”

Kang Xu laughed awkwardly. “I accidentally found it. It wasn’t on purpose…”

Xie Songchen turned his gaze to the window, his eyes gradually deepening. After a moment, he spoke in a somewhat low tone.

“…He won’t like me.”

Kang Xu’s eyes widened in surprise. In her lifetime, she never expected to hear such words from her proud and aloof son.

“Well,” Kang Xu swapped the orange for a packet of sunflower seeds. “Care to elaborate?”

Fingers tightening, a frustrated and embarrassed Xie Songchen stood up and snapped, “Why are you eating sunflower seeds in a hospital bed?” before walking out of the room—leaving a bewildered Kang Xu behind.