PHWM Chapter 34

“Self-sacrifice for others.”

 

Duan Ming sat at his artist’s bedside, holding his phone in disbelief: “To save Zhao by surrounding Wei, blocking the paparazzi, and rushing to occupy the top spot on trending…”

 

Liang Xiao, barely conscious, muttered: “Brother Duan.”

 

“Stop pretending,” Duan Ming didn’t believe it. “When you buried your head in President Huo’s arms, you were full of strength.”

 

Huo Lan, that strong and robust Alpha, was so startled that he almost stumbled back a step.

 

Liang Xiao: “…”

 

Huo Lan’s anger had come so suddenly that Liang Xiao didn’t even have time to react before he was swept off his feet and carried out of the room.

 

He felt too weak to move but knew he couldn’t do nothing.

 

Duan Ming: “So you’re hoping that as long as no one sees your face, they won’t recognize you?”

 

Liang Xiao thought his manager might still be holding a grudge about the heating incident and pleaded: “…Brother Duan.”

 

Duan Ming was almost scared into a heart attack, glaring at him and shoving a peeled orange toward him.

 

When Huo Lan carried Liang Xiao out, the ambulance was still outside, not yet leaving.

 

The emergency treatment was swift and precise, and Chi Che’s condition improved quickly enough that he didn’t need to go to the hospital.

 

Jiang Pingchao left discreetly, only greeting the director and having his team cover for him. They took the opportunity to quietly slip out of the isolation zone.

 

The ambulance had rushed over in a hurry, with no time to hear the crew’s explanation. They only knew there was an Omega in urgent need of treatment.

 

…

 

And Huo Lan just so happened to be carrying an Omega.

 

Liang Xiao didn’t even have time to explain before he was knocked out with medical ether and sent straight to the ambulance. He couldn’t believe the situation had unfolded like this, lying in the hospital bed and sighing: “Fate plays tricks on people…”

 

“President Huo played tricks on you,” Duan Ming said, tossing his phone at him. “Post on Weibo.”

 

Liang Xiao was stunned: “What?”

 

“Xingguan registered it for you,” Duan Ming said. “The trending topic is still up. If you’re fine, just post a message saying you’re okay.”

 

When the incident happened, Duan Ming had been stuck at the hotel, trying to explain the heating system to the hotel owner, who was from the south, with the butler’s help.

 

Suddenly hearing that someone had brought a pheromone inducer, Duan Ming was scared out of his wits. He rushed over, just in time to see Huo Lan carrying Liang Xiao out of the resting area’s isolation zone.

 

Then, a group of medical staff swiftly took over and transferred Liang Xiao from Huo Lan’s arms to the ambulance.

 

Duan Ming couldn’t be bothered to explain how he had chased after the ambulance, crying his heart out while running. He rubbed his face, took a deep breath, and opened the trending topic for him: “Familiarize yourself with the context of the situation between Xingguan and Jiang Pingchao’s team.”

 

Liang Xiao, still weak and drugged from the anesthesia, had fallen asleep immediately after being knocked out, and hadn’t yet thought about the real reason for his trending topic, which might not be #XingguanPresidentStronglySeizingOmega#.

 

Duan Ming directly found a marketing account with a summary and opened a long Weibo post.

 

Liang Xiao looked down and flipped through a few pages.

 

Liang Xiao: “…”

 

He pressed his forehead, put the phone down, and took a deep breath: “The south doesn’t have heating… I’m not used to it, I miss it all the time.”

 

Duan Ming coughed lightly.

 

Liang Xiao: “I shot a horseback scene, and it wore me out.”

 

Duan Ming handed him another orange.

 

Liang Xiao double-checked: “I shot an electric shock scene too, and to match the effect of the punishment, a small amount of pheromone inducer was used.”

 

“The pheromone inducer is only legal in small amounts.”

 

Duan Ming was able to explain and recited the law for him: “It’s only allowed in certain special situations where the Omega isn’t in heat, but the pheromone needs to be adjusted artificially.”

 

Duan Ming peeled the orange, sneaking a glance at the regulation: “It must be controlled at a level that doesn’t cause a pheromone explosion. The person responsible must be present, and there must be professional medical personnel supervising the operation.”

 

… He even reasonably explained Huo Lan and the ambulance’s appearance.

 

Liang Xiao almost believed it: “Director Song agreed to this?”

 

“This way, it brings out your two scenes,” Duan Ming said. “The crew’s management wasn’t strict, and one of the A-unit’s staff sold the scene. It’s a personal favor to Jiang Pingchao.”

 

Liang Xiao looked over the summary again.

 

Although he had expected the story to be fabricated, he couldn’t help but be impressed by Xingguan’s business acumen.

 

After Jiang Pingchao’s team had been dealt with, the whole situation seamlessly connected from start to finish.

 

They even took advantage of the trending topic to register him on Weibo, attracting fans of the Yun Lian character, and smoothly promoting two scenes that were prepared for upcoming publicity.

 

“Jiang Pingchao’s team is holding those fanatics accountable, but it’s better not to make a big deal out of it,” Duan Ming explained, handing him the orange to distract him. “Their team helped us out, sending over two variety shows for you to choose from.”

 

Liang Xiao understood this and smiled: “Actually, I don’t need to.”

 

“I’ve already said it,” Duan Ming insisted. “They’re determined, so it’s hard to refuse.”

 

Liang Xiao popped a piece of orange into his mouth.

 

When it comes to situations like this, it’s not that the artist doesn’t take responsibility, but they still cannot promote it. Instead, they must do their best to calm the situation and suppress the aftermath.

 

Especially since Jiang Pingchao and his manager’s relationship hasn’t been made public yet.

 

At times like this, any unexpected developments could completely disrupt the entire team’s promotional plans.

 

Liang Xiao tried his best to focus on the matter at hand, but still couldn’t help glancing back at the last sentence, “carried out of the set by the Xingguan President.” He coughed lightly and asked, “President Huo…?”

 

As soon as they crossed the isolation line, medical staff rushed over to take him, and both he and Huo Lan were somewhat startled.

 

Huo Lan was probably more shocked than him.

 

After all, he was only startled for three seconds before the mask was urgently strapped to his face, and he passed out.

 

Duan Ming, who had been thinking about the two variety shows from the other side, suddenly heard, “Woke up half an hour and started looking for people?”

 

Liang Xiao: “…”

 

Duan Ming was just casually teasing him, but when it came to the main issue, he noticed Liang Xiao’s ears were faintly reddening and fell silent.

 

Duan Ming had spent the whole night making up stories, and originally believed that nothing had happened between them. But now, he was starting to feel uncertain. He put down what he was holding and carefully watched him.

 

Liang Xiao didn’t know how to explain, so he cleared his throat: “No, I—”

 

Liang Xiao sat for a while, feeling defeated, and buried his face in his palms: “Yes.”

 

“…” Duan Ming truly didn’t expect him to be so open about it. “Aren’t you going to hide it a little?”

 

“It was too exciting,” Liang Xiao sighed.

 

Duan Ming’s heart raced: “What did President Huo do?”

 

Liang Xiao hesitated.

 

Duan Ming nearly grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, but remembering what the doctor had said about Liang Xiao being a bit drained from exhaustion recently, he didn’t dare disturb him: “Come on, tell me?!”

 

In the single-person hospital room, Liang Xiao glanced around to make sure no one was around and whispered the truth, “Brother Duan, President Huo came to pick me up.”

 

Duan Ming: “…”

 

Liang Xiao: “…”

 

Duan Ming stared at him for a while, even considering calling Feiyang Pharmaceuticals to confirm if the suppressant might still cause some brain damage.

 

Liang Xiao, blushing, waited for a long time: “Brother Duan, aren’t you going to react?”

 

Duan Ming: “Oh.”

 

Duan Ming: “Otherwise, is President Huo out walking the dog?”

 

…

 

Liang Xiao had nothing more to say to him and sighed lightly: “Floating duckweed has no roots, a traveler from afar, don’t ask about him.”

 

Duan Ming: “…”

 

Duan Ming really thought about calling Feiyang Pharmaceuticals: “You—”

 

Liang Xiao gazed into the distance, his entire demeanor filled with poetic melancholy. Taking advantage of his manager’s distraction, he swiftly snatched the peeled orange from his hand.

 

Duan Ming was nearly driven crazy by him. Holding his breath, he went out to find President Huo.

 

Liang Xiao, bored, made a small flower out of the orange peel and then checked his phone to browse the trending topics.

 

He had never been picked up by anyone before.

 

After leaving six orphanages behind, Liang Xiao couldn’t bring himself to harm the remaining ones and decided to make his own way in the world.

 

At that time, Liang Xiao was only thirteen or fourteen, inexperienced, carrying a small bundle of belongings. He hadn’t gone far before he was tricked into a scammer’s den, forced to learn all kinds of swindling tricks.

 

Two years later, after gaining some trust, those people allowed him to scam on his own, but he still had to send money back regularly.

 

Having embraced freedom, Liang Xiao was extremely excited at the time. He worked odd jobs to earn some money to fool those people and happily found a school to audit classes.

 

…The events that followed were a bit chaotic.

 

Liang Xiao pressed his forehead, skipping over the painful memories of being forced to cram for exams and being punished with copying texts when he couldn’t recite them.

 

Although it was because of this that he barely scraped by the art exam cutoff, Liang Xiao still stubbornly believed that his deep fear of writing book reports stemmed mostly from those times when he was forced to write reading comprehension exercises.

 

After struggling through society and enduring the torment of extra lessons and homework, Little Liang Xiao finally found a chance to escape. After several twists and turns, he completely shook off those people.

 

Liang Xiao put down his phone, touched the bracelet on his wrist, lowered his eyes for a while, and sighed lightly.

 

He had tried Yun Lian’s way of living.

 

For someone without a foundation, of course, there’s a way to live alone.

 

Liang Xiao brooded for a while, then thought of the young Huo Lan mentioned by the butler. He felt a bit sorry for him and saved a piece of orange for President Huo.

 

Huo Lan… was also someone who hadn’t been picked up by anyone.

 

Liang Xiao, with empathy, felt that he couldn’t just sit back and wait for President Huo to come find him.

 

Liang Xiao glanced at the IV bag, which was almost empty. He skillfully removed the needle and stopped the bleeding, informed the nurse on duty, put on his clothes, and quietly slipped out of the hospital room.

 

Huo Lan sat at the desk, expressionless, listening to the butler’s nagging.

 

The butler, now older, couldn’t handle being scared even a little. He spoke softly, trying to reason with him: “You need to take it step by step. You can’t either do nothing or, when you do, make it earth-shattering…”

 

It would be fine to just chat with Mr. Liang, sleep, nibble on his neck.

 

Even if he pinned Mr. Liang against the door by the waist, as long as it happened naturally, it could still be considered a harmless form of intimacy.

 

The butler could never have imagined that Huo Lan was the kind of alpha who would boldly declare “I’m taking him back to the presidential suite” and then forcibly carry the omega out, as if abducting him.

 

“…” Huo Lan had a headache, took a deep breath, and said, “No.”

 

The butler was even more heartbroken: “You were never someone who would do something and then shy away from the consequences.”

 

Huo Lan: “…”

 

At that time, he had acted in a moment of anger, carrying the person out, only to be swiftly whisked away by a whirlwind, masked, and shoved into an ambulance.

 

Huo Lan sat outside the emergency room, stunned for half the night, trying to figure out what had happened.

 

He had planned to give Liang Xiao a full body checkup but hadn’t had the chance. After clearing up the misunderstanding with the hospital, he decided to take the opportunity to get a full checkup done.

 

After a thorough examination, a stack of reports were handed to him. It turned out that Liang Xiao hadn’t been properly taking care of his health over the years, and the illness from his past hadn’t been fully treated. His body had been gradually weakening.

 

Huo Lan actually wanted to see Liang Xiao, but when he came back to grab his laptop, the butler cornered him at the door for a deep, thorough conversation.

 

Huo Lan was still thinking about what the doctor had said and couldn’t quite focus: “You misunderstand, I—”

 

Butler: “Do you like Mr. Liang?”

 

Huo Lan froze.

 

He leaned back in his chair, his chest rising and falling twice, then closed his eyes without saying anything.

 

The butler had tried asking “Do you like xxx?” in this way thousands of times over the years, but this was the first time he didn’t deny it. He didn’t even realize it at first, stunned for a moment: “You—”

 

The butler, afraid of scaring him, held his breath for a long time, lowering his voice: “You… like Mr. Liang, don’t you?”

 

Huo Lan opened his eyes.

 

“Liking someone… isn’t pursued this way.”

 

The butler was about to be driven mad: “You can’t just buy Mr. Liang a house, sneak into his bedroom in the middle of the night and do nothing, and then storm onto the set during his serious filming to drag him back to the presidential suite…”

 

“…” Huo Lan still held onto the hope of clearing things up: “I didn’t.”

 

Butler: “Then, have you cleared things up with Mr. Liang?”

 

Huo Lan’s shoulders and back tensed silently, his eyes closed again.

 

The butler had always wondered where Huo Lan’s heartache lay, and after hesitating, asked, “Why don’t you just tell Mr. Liang? Clearly—”

 

Huo Lan: “He’ll leave.”

 

The butler was about to continue when he suddenly heard this, stunned into silence.

 

“Not telling him.” Huo Lan: “If he doesn’t know, he won’t tie me down.”

 

Butler: “…”

 

Butler: “???”

 

The butler had never heard this before, his eyes wide in shock: “When were you kidnapped?! By whom? What did they do to you? Are you okay—”

 

The more the butler thought about it, the more worried he became, almost wanting to rush over to check if Huo Lan’s kidneys were still intact. Huo Lan, frowning, raised a hand to stop him: “No.”

 

“It wasn’t kidnapping.” Huo Lan was silent for a long time, “I don’t know who it was.”

 

He really didn’t know.

 

The person he had encountered back then had a fake name, a fake identity, and a fake appearance. There was no trace of them anywhere.

 

Sometimes, Huo Lan even wondered if the whole thing had been a hallucination, just a dream in Jiangnan.

 

“But… did you have some kind of relationship with him?”

 

The butler’s heart sank, and he made up his mind to keep this from Mr. Liang: “Back in Jiangnan…”

 

Huo Lan: “Eleven years ago.”

 

The butler calculated the time in his head and felt even more troubled.

 

At that time, Huo Lan had already entered high school, able to come and go on his own, visiting the family more often than before.

 

No matter how well the Master kept things hidden, they all knew, and Madam had picked up on some clues.

 

When Huo Lan was born, there was a pheromone conflict. His glands had been stressed and closed off, delaying his differentiation. During that period, he had frequent high fevers that wouldn’t subside. To see Madam more often, he had stubbornly endured it without ever saying a word.

 

Once, when young Huo Lan had a high fever in the middle of the night, Madam brought him some snacks. Huo Lan was delirious from the fever, feeling extremely uncomfortable. Unable to bear it, he allowed Madam to feel his forehead.

 

That night, Master sent Huo Lan back to Jiangnan.

 

The butler didn’t dare to imagine what it would have been like for Huo Lan, in that state, to fall for someone, only to be kidnapped and used by that person.

 

“You—”

 

The butler cautiously probed: “Was it for money?”

 

Huo Lan closed his eyes. “No.”

 

The money was untouched; the person hadn’t taken a single cent.

 

The butler grew even more alarmed. “Then was it… for your body?!”

 

Huo Lan frowned deeply. “…No.”

 

At that time, he hadn’t even differentiated into an alpha.

 

If he had already been an alpha, he wouldn’t have been allowed near his mother. Young Huo Lan had kept silent about his condition, and by the time he realized it was serious, he no longer had the strength to call for help. He spent an entire stormy night feverish and semi-conscious.

 

When he woke up, he discovered he had successfully differentiated.

 

At that age, Huo Lan had naively thought that his rejection from the family was because he was a pseudo-beta. After waking up and realizing his differentiation, he was eager to find someone to share the good news with—only to discover he had been tied to a chair.

 

“…” The butler thought to himself that this sequence of events sounded rather illogical. Clearing his throat, he asked hesitantly, “Then what did he want?”

 

Huo Lan shook his head and closed his eyes briefly. “He didn’t like me.”

 

The butler: “…”

 

Quietly, the butler opened one of Huo Lan’s drawers, and sure enough, he found walnut shells left behind from being cracked.

 

During his susceptible periods, Huo Lan was usually harder to reason with than usual. Even though it didn’t snow often, a single misstep could leave him so upset that no amount of persuasion could make him eat.

 

The butler treaded carefully, trying to guide the conversation. “Before he left… what did he do?”

 

Huo Lan: “He scribbled all over my reference books and practice exams.”

 

The butler: “…”

 

That was an unforgivable crime.

 

Wiping the sweat off his brow, the butler asked, “How did he scribble?”

 

“On the bottom right corner of every page, where the page number is.” Huo Lan: “He erased the numbers and wrote ‘QAQ.’”

 

The butler froze.

 

…

 

No wonder their Huo Lan had been obsessing over figuring out what those two circles and a triangle meant all these years.

 

The butler’s thoughts raced. For a moment, he was even worried that Huo Lan might have mistaken Mr. Liang—who also happened to use that expression—as a stand-in for an innocent, unrequited love from his past.

 

“I thought… it was the initials of his real name.”

 

Huo Lan: “But the permutations are endless.”

 

Huo Lan lowered his gaze and said quietly, “I don’t even know if his surname was Qin or Qi.”

 

The butler almost pointed out that it could also have been Qiao, but he bit his cheek hard and swallowed the words.

 

He didn’t dare ask if Huo Lan had actually tried investigating the matter. “…I see.”

 

“This is in the past. There’s no need to bring it up again.”

 

Huo Lan didn’t want to say more. “Since I like Mr. Liang, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him—maybe even raise a dog together—I won’t think about the past anymore.”

 

“…”

 

The butler clicked his tongue in numb disbelief. Watching their Mr. Huo express his emotions so fluently in his susceptible state, he could almost imagine how that poor, innocent wild omega must have been frightened.

 

If it were him—forty years younger—he might have also been scared off upon suddenly hearing someone plan their future together, complete with a dog.

 

Huo Lan was silent for a long time before continuing to analyze his own thoughts. “But I won’t tell Mr. Liang.”

 

“…” The butler, feeling weak, muttered, “You probably shouldn’t tell him just yet.”

 

“I… don’t need him to do anything. I don’t need him to respond or reciprocate.”

 

Huo Lan said firmly, “I don’t need him to like me.”

 

The butler clamped his mouth shut, thinking to himself, You’re probably lying to yourself. Not long ago, you still needed him to write a reading reflection.

 

Mr. Liang was still working on it. Sometimes, the butler passed by the set and saw him sitting on a small stool, propping up the script as he flipped through collections of quotes to pick good phrases. It was hard not to feel a pang of sympathy.

 

Huo Lan, unaware of what the butler was thinking, reflected on his entire life. He mentally discarded every mistake he’d made, then closed his eyes briefly. “This way…”

 

Huo Lan’s voice softened as he made a promise to himself. “He won’t leave.”

 

 

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