PTBC chapter 10

Another hour passed, and finally, dinner was ready.

Xia Yan and Fu Hui finally stopped fighting and helped with the plating.

This rare family gathering also served as a family meeting. The main topics were twofold: one to celebrate Fu Hui’s promotion, and the other to discuss Xia Yan’s sudden transformation into an Omega.

However, the former celebration had already passed a month ago. Everyone had already expressed their congratulations in the chat group, and Fu Changfeng had been extorted by his daughter for an antique mechanical watch as a gift for her promotion.

So, everyone just casually raised their glasses and then shifted their focus to Xia Yan.

“I never thought I would raise an Omega in my lifetime,” Xia Chujun said, looking at his son thoughtfully. “I remember when you and Fu Hui were born, your father and I kept asking the doctor over and over if there was any chance one of you would be an Omega, and the doctor told us to stop being so delusional.”

Thinking of this, he seemed quite distressed.

“Why didn’t you differentiate when you were young? Then I could have shown you off to Bian Chen.”

Bian Chen was his childhood friend who, because of having the only Omega daughter among their circle, had been extremely smug, often showing off, making Xia Chujun envious enough to gnaw on his pillow at night.

“It’s not like I could decide,” Xia Yan said unhappily. “I actually would have preferred to differentiate when I was younger so I wouldn’t have to do all this mental self-conditioning. Our manager is so worried about my mental stress that he even contacted a psychologist for me.”

“What did the psychologist say?”

“Nothing,” Xia Yan said expressionlessly. “The psychologist said I’m in good shape, lively and healthy. The only problem is that I’m overly competitive. They told me to relax a little.”

Everyone at the table laughed.

When the family first found out about Xia Yan’s differentiation into an Omega, they didn’t say anything but were internally very anxious, including Fu Hui, who seemed carefree on the outside. Fu Changfeng and Xia Chujun even returned from abroad right away.

In the end, Xia Yan had to calm them down with great effort.

Now, after a thorough examination at the hospital, it was confirmed that Xia Yan had no major health issues.

Fu Changfeng and Xia Chujun also consulted every available medical expert they could find to get a better understanding of the situation and realized that the side effects of differentiation had to take their natural course.

Gradually, everyone began to calm down.

Being an Alpha or Omega didn’t matter much. Anyway, Xia Yan had already grown past his most adorable childhood stage.

Li Song’an comforted Xia Yan. “I remember your sister didn’t differentiate into an Alpha until middle school. She also had many side effects, but she recovered in about a month. Maybe you’ll get better just like her.”

Xia Yan bit into a shrimp, looking utterly lifeless, and nodded.

He wanted to comfort himself like that too, but it had already been over ten days, and there was no sign of it ending.

He rubbed his neck and complained to Li Song’an, “I haven’t had a single good night’s sleep recently. Besides the pain, itching, dizziness, and nausea, I also always feel like hitting someone. Whenever I see an Alpha, I want to pin him against the wall and not let him out.”

He turned to Fu Hui and asked, “Did you feel this way when you differentiated?”

Fu Hui, biting into a chicken wing, gave him a complicated look. “I think this might be a personal issue for you. I was a bit irritable, but I still cared about my classmates, especially your brother-in-law. Don’t believe me? Ask him.”

“Heh.”

Xia Yan sneered. “If I could sit at the same desk as my crush, I’d be all love and compassion for the world.”

What did he not know? Fu Hui had been secretly in love with her desk mate, Li Song’an, since the third year of middle school. Of course, she had to pretend to be a good little girl.

…..

After dinner, the family moved to the living room to watch a movie.

Xu Cong, as an honorary member, also had his designated spot, sitting on the floor next to Xia Yan with a bag of open chips on his lap.

In the movie, the two main characters loved each other regardless of the consequences.

Outside the movie, Fu Hui was gossiping.

She chewed on some snacks brought by her partner and asked Xia Yan, “Now that you’ve turned into an Omega, has your preference in partners changed?”

She unceremoniously poked at Xia Yan’s sore spot. “I remember you used to like tall, pretty Omegas, but nowadays, O&O relationships aren’t as popular. Your ideal type probably wouldn’t even look at you anymore.”

Talk about bringing up the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Xia Yan turned around, his face dark with clouds, grinding his molars as his fingers cracked.

Fu Hui sensed it but didn’t care, brushing off the crumbs from her clothes and looking provocatively at him.

Xia Chujun had been paying attention to the two siblings, these two troublemakers who had been fighting since childhood without a moment’s peace.

Seeing that a war was about to break out, he immediately pressed one of them down and scolded, “No fighting.”

He glared at Fu Hui. “Fu Hui, stop provoking your brother. What’s wrong with being an Omega? We’re not that kind of conservative family. O&Os can get married now.”

“Forget it, Dad,” Fu Hui sneered, “There are still some double-A families like ours, but double-O families are a rare breed. Omegas have their own fluctuations, and when two of them are together, it only intensifies the situation. It’s too difficult. Even if they get married, they’ll eventually get divorced. You wouldn’t want to see Xia Yan facing that problem, would you?”

Fu Hui was being sincere with this comment.

Having grown up, she had seen all kinds of couples with various sexual orientations. But sometimes, love alone isn’t enough. Not everyone can have a relationship like her dads—steadfast and rebellious to the end.

“If I were you, I’d choose a beta,” she said to Xia Yan. “Betas are great—they’re the backbone of society, stable, not like omegas and alphas who are so unstable. They don’t go through heat periods, and they’re not affected by pheromones. They’re practically perfect.”

Fu Hui kicked her brother. “You wouldn’t want to date an alpha, right?”

“Who’d want an alpha,” Xia Yan sneered, “A bunch of control freaks, 90% of them are arrogant, irritable, and stupid.”

Even though his entire family was alpha, including himself in the past, he had no intention of defending them.

Fu Hui nodded in agreement, clearly full of herself.

“Exactly, an alpha like me who has both good morals and loves her family is rare. You’d better not suffer that kind of misfortune.”

Li Song’an really didn’t want to hear any of this, but he couldn’t help but chuckle.

He was chatting with Xu Cong, who was also being quite nosy.

“None of your teammates are dating? You must have really strong willpower. Does pheromone and hormones not affect you? I heard in the entertainment industry, a lot of people change partners after filming a show.”

“Xiao Ning only thinks about food, Lin Qixu could live his whole life with his two-dimensional figures—he has eighteen ‘paper wives,’” Xu Cong explained. “As for Ye Zhaoyang… I don’t know. He’s cold-hearted, only cares about making money.”

“What about you? Don’t you have anyone?” Li Song’an teased.

“When you first followed Xia Yan home at seventeen, it’s been four or five years now. You two are like blocks of wood, no romantic feelings at all?”

Xu Cong paused.

He subtly glanced to the side. Xia Yan and Fu Hui were bickering again. This pair of siblings had never been peaceful.

Xia Yan, even after becoming an omega, still had the strength to fight. His legs were pinning Fu Hui down as he tried to press her neck, but Fu Hui wasn’t backing down either—she quickly broke free and went to grab Xia Yan’s hair.

“I’m not interested in love,” Xu Cong said as he withdrew his gaze and smiled at Li Song’an. “But if I were to fall in love, it would have to be someone truly special, the one I like the most. I wouldn’t settle for anyone else.”

“Very picky.”

Li Song’an smiled but understood completely.

…..

At 11 p.m., the people in the living room were getting ready to disperse and head to their respective rooms. Xia Yan casually hooked his arm around Xu Cong’s neck.

His other hand rested on Xu Cong’s leg, their bodies close, a deeply intimate posture.

Xia Yan said, “Let’s play a game together tonight.”

His breath brushed against Xu Cong’s ear. “I’m still a bit hungry. How about we order some late-night snacks? It’s rare to indulge, so why not… anyway, Bai Yu won’t see. Do you want fried chicken or barbecue?”

While speaking, he was already ordering takeout on his phone.

The others in the living room froze, staring at him in disbelief.

Xia Chujun was about to go back to his room with Fu Changfeng, but when he heard this, he turned around, exchanged a look with Fu Changfeng, and his face showed clear exasperation.

“Wait a second,” Fu Changfeng gave his son a strange look. “What did you just say? You’re going to play games with Xu Cong, and you’re ordering takeout?”

He asked suspiciously, “You’re not planning on having Xu Cong sleep in your room, are you?”

“Yes.”

Xia Yan didn’t see anything wrong with it.

He remained leaning on Xu Cong, his eyes never leaving his phone as he casually commented, “He’s slept in my room before.”

Even Xu Cong let out a sigh at this point.

The others in the room were speechless. Fu Hui shook her head and left with her partner.

A few seconds later, Xia Yan realized the atmosphere was off. He looked up at his father, “What’s wrong? Why are you all looking like that?”

Fu Changfeng was about to lose it.

“You’re asking me what’s wrong? You’re an omega, and you want Xu Cong to sleep in your room? Can’t you be a bit more considerate?”

“Ah…”

Only then did Xia Yan realize that, yes, this might not be very appropriate.

But he was still a bit defiant, one leg propped up on the sofa, the other lightly swaying, looking very rebellious. He tilted his chin towards his dad. “It’s not like it’s anyone else. It’s Xu Cong. We’ve slept together countless times. I know every mole on his body. Why are you getting worked up now?”

He sneered lightly.

Fu Changfeng felt his blood pressure rising. He finally understood why people said omega teenagers were hard to deal with. Look at this—he was over twenty, and this is how he acted.

Fortunately, Xu Cong was a reliable person.

He stepped forward and interrupted Xia Yan before he could annoy anyone further.

“I won’t stay in his room for long, Uncle. After we finish playing games, I’ll leave,” Xu Cong said seriously, looking at Fu Changfeng. “I’ll stay in the guest room downstairs. Sorry for the trouble.”

Fu Changfeng’s expression finally eased. His son might be unreliable, but at least there was someone trustworthy around.

Still, the thought left him uneasy.

He turned to Xu Cong. “Xia Yan can be careless about certain things. You’re on the same team, and he’s going through the differentiation period. Please keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t get too muddled while interacting with other alphas.”

“Okay.”

Xu Cong readily agreed.

But when he returned to his room with Xia Chujun, Fu Changfeng was still tossing and turning in bed.

He asked Xia Chujun, “Now in that team of Xia Yan’s, it’s all alpha members. There are plenty of alphas in the entertainment industry as well. Do you think when he goes to film TV shows or record programs, he’ll end up surrounded by alphas?”

As he spoke, his face grew increasingly grim. His fingers rested on his abdomen, as though he were about to stab some ill-intentioned alpha.

“It’s outrageous.”

Xia Chujun gave him a cold look. “When you climbed into my bed back then, did you think it was outrageous? What, does being an alpha mean no human rights?”

When he was young, he had no guard up against Fu Changfeng, who was also an alpha. During one summer vacation, the two of them had ended up together in bed in a messy and confused way.

Fu Changfeng was left speechless.

Xia Chujun yawned, his gaze hazy.

“Stop worrying about it.” He said to Fu Changfeng, “Xia Yan’s temper is worse than mine. He’s just having trouble adjusting to being an omega, but if some alpha tries to threaten him, do you doubt your son’s strength or his ability to defend himself?”

“If Xia Yan’s willing to accept an alpha, it’s probably because he’s genuinely interested in that person.”

Xia Chujun paused and hesitated before adding, “But I think that possibility is quite low. Ever since he was young, he always said he wanted to marry a beautiful omega.”

Clearly, he hadn’t inherited the aesthetics of either of his two fathers.

Fu Changfeng also thought about this, and he relaxed a little. After all, if Xia Yan really got into a fight, he could probably take down three alphas at once.