Chapter 6

“I’ll leave you two to talk. I’ll head back to my office first,” Qin Li cut in.
“Okay. Thanks,” said Duan Baisui.
Once Qin Li had left, Duan Baisui and Ason moved to a different spot to continue their conversation.
“Dad, did Ju Xiao say anything?” Duan Baisui asked.
“He seems very afraid of that person,” Ason explained slowly. “They isolated him. On set, they’d deliberately cause retakes and kick him into the water again and again. At night, they’d all rush into his room, forbid him from sleeping on the bed, and handcuff him to the toilet. If he dared to call for help, they’d stuff stomped‑flat pieces of bread into his mouth.”
Duan Baisui listened in silence. He could more or less picture Ju Xiao’s helplessness and despair.
“But he said he could endure all of that,” Ason added. “Until Rong Jin said he wanted to turn him into an Omega, and kept frightening him—saying that once he really differentiated, they’d make a very big bet.”
“Bet on what?” Duan Baisui pressed.
“On a baby,” Ason said, looking at him. “You know what that means, don’t you?”
Of course he did.
He’d heard before that certain rich second‑generation circles liked to play that sort of game.
Several people would sleep with the same person, deliberately make them pregnant, then wait ten months for the baby to be born just to see whose “little tadpoles” were the fastest.
It was beyond outrageous.
“He lives in constant anxiety,” Ason went on, “until the day he had a false heat. That day, one of the members nearly assaulted him. The terror of that experience pushed him over the edge. He started hallucinating, seeing glands appear on his wrist, and that’s what drove him to self‑harm.”
Normally, Alpha and Omega glands were located at the back of the neck. But for those forced into gender modification with drugs, the glands could grow in other places.
For some, it was the inner thigh. For others, the wrist.
After a long pause, Duan Baisui asked, “Is he willing to press charges against Rong Jin now?”
“He’s always been willing,” Ason said. “He only kept quiet because that agent threatened him.”
“Thank you, Dad. Now that he’s willing to talk, it’ll be much easier to handle this,” said Duan Baisui.
Ason smiled. “There’s no need to thank me. This is my work—and that child really is pitiful.”
“I’ll have Assistant Luo discuss the next steps with him,” Duan Baisui said. “No matter what, the company won’t sweep this under the rug.”
Ason nodded, then glanced at his watch. “It’s getting late. Shall we have lunch together?”
That was exactly what Duan Baisui had in mind. “Sure.”
The restaurant they’d booked was near New Era Plaza, so they decided to swing by and pick up Zuo Nian on the way.
On the road, Ason tried calling him, but no one picked up. Worried, he said, “Don’t tell me his phone’s been stolen again?”
Since opening the shop, people had noticed he was different from others. Some took advantage of his slow reactions to steal things from him.
His phone was what went missing the most.
Even installing security cameras hadn’t helped. The thieves all wore hats and masks, so their faces were never captured clearly.
They showed up every now and then, always different people, leaving Zuo Nian with no way to guard against them.
Parking the car, Duan Baisui said, “Dad, please wait here a bit. I’ll go get him.”
“All right.”
In the inner corridor on the first floor, Duan Baisui soon spotted Zuo Nian squatting in front of the shop, doing something on the ground.
As he came closer, he saw Zuo Nian breaking pieces of sausage into a small plastic dish.
Hearing footsteps, Zuo Nian looked up. His eyes went from blank to bright as he chirped, “Gege!”
“What are you doing?” Duan Baisui asked.
“The little kitten doesn’t have a mom and it’s hungry. It came to Nian‑nian for help, but a customer scared it off. I couldn’t find it, so I thought, if it comes back later, there’ll be food waiting.” He spoke with utter seriousness.
In this kind of cold weather, it was hard to say whether the kitten would ever come back.
Too aware of that cruel possibility, Duan Baisui said nothing. “Mm. Close up, we’re going out for lunch.”
“Okay~” Zuo Nian ran back into the shop to fetch the keys.
When he came out with his small bag, he glanced at his phone in confusion. “Huh? Pretty Dad called Nian‑nian so many times…”
He was just about to call back when Duan Baisui said, “No need. Dad’s waiting for us in the car. You should be keeping your phone on you.”
Looking a little aggrieved, Zuo Nian said, “If I put it in my pocket, it always falls out. Hanging it around my neck, it still falls off. So I just locked it in the drawer. If it’s locked, no one can steal it.”
For him, this was probably the best anti‑theft method he could think of.
Duan Baisui didn’t comment further. “Let’s go.”
By the time they reached the parking lot, Ason had already gotten out of the car and was standing by the door, scanning the area for them.
Zuo Nian jogged over and threw himself into his arms. “Dad!”
Ruffling his hair fondly, Ason said, “Baby, oh my, let me have a look at you. You’ve put on weight.”
Pinching his own stomach, Zuo Nian said, “I have. Gege bought lots of candy for home, and Auntie keeps making me late‑night snacks. Nian‑nian’s gained eight jin!”
Then, as if making a solemn resolution, he added, “I’m going to lose weight!”
“Nonsense. You’re still young, you’re growing,” Ason said indulgently.
Zuo Nian pulled a face. “You’re just coaxing me. I looked it up online. At twenty‑five, you stop growing—only the fat keeps growing.”
Ason burst out laughing, and even Duan Baisui couldn’t help but smile.
Once they were all in the car, Ason said, “Suìsuì, your dad and the others are coming back next week. Let’s have a meal together.”
Recently, Xu Yi had been diagnosed with gland occlusion.
It wasn’t fatal, but the treatment cycle was painfully long, and it was extremely hard on an Omega.
Duan Yan had been so worried he could hardly sleep. In the end, he’d abandoned his company work and taken Xu Yi abroad for treatment.
“All right,” said Duan Baisui.
“I did a video call with Xu‑dad this morning,” Zuo Nian piped up. “He and Duan‑dad both got thinner. When they come back, Nian‑nian will cook a lot of delicious food for them. And for Fat Dad and Pretty Dad too.”
Ason pinched his cheek. “Such a good boy.”
At lunch, Zuo Nian barely ate anything. At dinner, he ate even less.
When Duan Baisui came home from work, he found that all the snacks had been put away and that Zuo Nian was actually using the treadmill.
He almost never exercised. After just a short while, he was completely wiped out, sprawled on the bed without moving.
Duan Baisui couldn’t help thinking how determined he suddenly seemed.
He knew better than anyone how much Zuo Nian loved snacks.
But when the lights went out and the bedroom fell into darkness, he heard Zuo Nian murmur faintly, “Gege, for a bunny as big as Xiao Sui… would it be enough to make a whole pot of spicy dry‑pot rabbit?”
Switching the lights back on, Duan Baisui said, “Want me to make you instant noodles?”
Zuo Nian shook his head, then lifted the pillow to reveal a stash of little snacks hidden underneath.
“Gege, would you mind if I had a small cookie in bed?”
With Duan Baisui backing him up, Ju Xiao was finally ready to go head‑to‑head with Rong Jin.
He’d thought about going to the police before. He’d thought about exposing everything publicly.
But his agent had warned him to be “sensible.”
If Rong Jin wanted to flip public opinion, it would happen overnight. Even if he reported it to the police, the Rong family had more than enough ways to shut him up.
And then there was his niece.
The more he thought about her, the more terrified he became.
He felt utterly powerless in the face of such overwhelming influence, and in the end, he had chosen death.
He couldn’t bear the thought of becoming that kind of person.
He’d written a suicide note and a will, leaving everything he owned to his niece. He simply couldn’t go on.
He’d entrusted all of it to Xiao Yuan, the only person he felt he could rely on.
Luckily, the perceptive girl had noticed the signs and rushed over to his rental place that night, where she’d found him in the middle of his suicide attempt.
He’d planned to take all those secrets to the grave. He knew that, given Rong Jin’s background and commercial value, the company would undoubtedly choose to sacrifice him.
The more he said, the worse his end would be.
He couldn’t afford to terminate his contract, he couldn’t face the thought of going back to the group, and he was even more terrified of falling back into Rong Jin’s hands.
What he hadn’t expected was that young President Duan would personally step in.
He’d had him transferred to a different hospital, arranged bodyguards to protect him, and when public opinion turned against him, he’d personally led the PR effort in his defense.
For the first time, Ju Xiao believed it—believed that this young president genuinely wanted to help him, and not just persuade him to “let it go.”
“So you actually do have evidence?” Luo Yin asked gravely, sitting by his bed.
“Yes.” Ju Xiao leaned back against the headboard, his complexion ghostly pale.
“I have chat logs and recordings…” he said. “I also secretly kept the vials and syringes from the drugs they gave me.”
He wasn’t stupid. He just knew that with only his own strength, even the strongest evidence might not be enough to bring Rong Jin down.
And in the middle of it all, his niece could easily become collateral damage.
He’d seen no other way out but to die and hope the commotion drew enough attention to force an investigation.
Luo Yin nodded. “Later, the company will use your account to make a statement. We’ll present the evidence one by one. All you need to do is focus on recovering. Leave everything else to us.”
“And Xiao Ying…?” Ju Xiao began, hesitating.
“I’ve already spoken with her school,” Luo Yin said. “For now, Xiao Yuan will be picking her up every day. The teachers will keep a special eye on her, and we’ll have people protecting them on the way. Don’t worry.”
Trying to climb out of bed, Ju Xiao bowed deeply. “Thank you, Assistant Luo.”
They were about the same age. After hearing everything he’d been through, Luo Yin’s fists had clenched with helpless anger. As a mere assistant, there wasn’t much he could do, but fortunately, that young President Duan had a spine of steel. He would rather fall out with the other higher‑ups than bury this incident.