AM: Chapter 47

The two of them were thinking about their own matters under the green shade. Suddenly, Cheng Xia’s phone rang. He took a look. It was a call from his agent Zhou Yan. He hurriedly picked up. “Hello, Sister Yan?”

Zhou Yan’s voice was a bit anxious. “Cheng Xia, where are you? I just came to your room and knocked on the door. No one answered. Are you not in your room?”

Cheng Xia explained. “I went downstairs to read my script. Sister Yan, are you looking for me for something?”

Zhou Yan had been frightened every day since the last time Cheng Xia was stabbed and went to the hospital. She always had a strange instinct that President Pei was paying special attention to Cheng Xia. She was afraid that Cheng Xia would be injured and it would be difficult for her to explain to President Pei. She came to see Cheng Xia early in the morning and there was no one in the room. She had been really taken aback.

Zhou Yan was slightly relieved when Cheng Xia said he was reading the script downstairs. She told him, “It’s nothing. I just wanted to ask you to have breakfast. The hotel’s breakfast is in the restaurant on the second floor. The time is from 7:30 – 8:30. Are you coming now?”

Cheng Xia glanced at Pei Shaoze inquiringly. Seeing President Pei nod, Cheng Xia said, “Okay, Sister Yan. I will come back now.”

Cheng Xia hung up the phone and asked with a smile, “Do you want to eat breakfast?”

Pei Shaoze nodded. “Yes, we should go back.”

They returned to the hotel side by side. At the entrance of the lobby, Pei Shaoze stopped and whispered in Cheng Xia’s ear, “I’ll go back to my room to change clothes. You go to the restaurant first.”

Cheng Xia knew President Pei’s concerns. If the two of them went to the restaurant to eat together, it was inevitable that people would think too much. Cheng Xia nodded in understanding and said toward Pei Shaoze, “Yes, see you later President Pei.”

The two of them took separate elevators in the lobby. Pei Shaoze returned to his room while Cheng Xia went to the second floor to eat first.

Pei Shaoyan had just woken up and was washing his face when Pei Shaoze swiped his card to enter his room. He saw his brother wiping the water off his face and turned to ask, “Brother, where did you go so early in the morning? You weren’t there when I woke up.”

Pei Shaoze answered, “I went out for a run.”

He bypassed his brother and went to the bathroom of the inner room. He took a quick shower and changed out of his sportswear into suit pants and a white shirt.

The climate here was hot and all the shirts he wore were short-sleeved shirts. He didn’t need to attend a formal meeting today so he didn’t wear a tie. By the time he went out, Pei Shaoyan had already washed and sprayed something on his body with a bottle. The air was filled with a faint cologne smell. Pei Shaoze glanced at his younger brother and asked casually, “You are young. Do you spray perfume on your body when going out?”

“Perfume?” Pei Shaoyan was stunned and looked at his older brother doubtfully. “This is a pheromones masking agent.” He turned the bottle over, looked at the logo again and wondered, “Brother, I might’ve bought a new model but shouldn’t you be able to recognize it?”

Pei Shaoze frowned in a questioning manner. “Pheromones masking agent?”

They were strange words he was hearing for the first time. He took the bottle from his brother’s hand. The shape of the bottle resembled male perfume but the bottle was marked with ‘short-acting alpha pheromones masking agent’ and detailed instructions for use. Adult alphas could spray this on their body after bathing and the coverage effect lasted for 24 hours.

What the hell was this? It wasn’t mentioned at all in the original novel.

Pei Shaoze looked down at the bottle thoughtfully. The plot of Accidental Mark started with Pei Shaoze marking Cheng Xia. The whole novel was about how ‘Pei Shaoze’ bullied Cheng Xia and abused him. Then it talked about Cheng Xia’s blackening step by step. There was no pheromones masking agent in the original novel so the author never mentioned it. Why did his younger brother use this? Was it better than perfume?

Pei Shaoyan saw his older brother frowning and thinking and couldn’t help whispering, “Our crew has three omegas. Teacher Lemongrass is already married and won’t be affected by other alphas. I don’t know about Ye Mingqian’s situation but Cheng Xia hasn’t been marked by you yet, right? I have to spray the masking agent to avoid Cheng Xia being disgusted by my approach.”

Pei Shaoze remembered that in the ABO world, both alphas and omegas had so-called ‘pheromones.’ At the beginning, he understood pheromones as a type of hormone in the body that was similar to adrenaline, estrogen, androgen and so on. It was used to regulate the endocrine system of the body. In addition, it should affect the human sex impulse. The direct evidence was Cheng Xia asking to be marked when his pheromones were out of control.

As for the pheromones smell, he understood it as a natural body odor and everyone smelled differently. The scent of Cheng Xia was sweet orange like orange juice in summer. It was sweet but not greasy. It smelled refreshing. Of course, he only smelled it when Cheng Xia’s pheromones were out of control. Once Qin Yu finished giving Cheng Xia an inhibitor, Cheng Xia didn’t have this obvious smell.

For himself, Pei Shaoze also noticed a strange woody scent from his body. He didn’t like the smell of his body but he also didn’t dislike it. He just never thought that this type of smell still needed to be covered up.

Pei Shaoze was silent for a while before asking, “Will my pheromones also affect omegas?

This serious question almost made Pei Shaoyan fall. “Brother, don’t joke around. You have S-grade pheromones. It would be strange if omegas weren’t dazzled by you!”

Pei Shaoze’s frowned even more. S-grade pheromones—then pheromones were also divided into levels? This world was so strange.

Pei Shaoyan had an expression of enlightenment. “I see, you want to spread out your personal charm and make Cheng Xia more addicted to you, right? In any case, Ye Mingqian has been avoiding you so you don’t have to worry about affecting him. Cheng Xia is your lover and there is no need to use a pheromones masking agent between lovers. Cheng Xia must like your smell very much!”

Pei Shaoze, “……”

Was that why Ye Mingqian avoided him?

Pei Shaoze thought about it carefully. This was indeed the case. During the time when Ye Mingqian came to Tianxuan to sign the contract, he stood three meters away from Pei Shaoze. All the conditions were discussed by the agent. Ye Mingqian only approached when signing the contract and quickly retreated with a smile. After joining the crew, Pei Shaoze seemed to have never seen Ye Mingqian whenever he appeared.

He thought that Ye Mingqian didn’t talk to him because they weren’t familiar with each other. Now it seemed that his pheromones had too much influence on omegas. Was Ye Mingqian worried about the impact so he deliberately avoided Pei Shaoze?

Pei Shaoyan saw his brother’s complicated expression and scratched his head in a questioning manner. “Brother?”

Pei Shaoze returned to his senses. “Lend me this thing for a while.”

Pei Shaoyan was stunned. “Do you want to use it as well?”

Pei Shaoze looked calm. “Yes, after all, we have to work with the crew. The crew has omegas and I can’t influence their filming.”

This reason made sense. Pei Shaoyan didn’t doubt it and readily handed the bottle to his brother. His brother took the spray, headed to the bathroom and sprayed it around him. Once he came out, his pheromones smell was covered up.

Pei Shaoze seemed to understand a bit. This was why Cheng Xia kept blushing when alone with him a few days ago. It wasn’t a fever or physical discomfort. It was due to his strong pheromones.

Pei Shaoze, “……”

Pei Shaoze was slightly embarrassed when realizing this. He hadn’t realized that the natural alpha body fragrance would actually have such a big impact on Cheng Xia. Fortunately, now he knew. Later, he would spray the pheromones masking agent every day like it was perfume. Then the young man wouldn’t blush whenever with him, right?

***

Cheng Xia came to the restaurant on the second floor and saw his agent and three other newcomers at a glance.

The crew of Folding Paper would stay at this hotel for two months. Pei Shaoze had asked Zhang Fan to book the buffet breakfast of the hotel at a discount price. The breakfast was very rich with eggs, milk and all types of pastries and fruits. Now it was precisely 7:30 a.m. and the place was full of people. In addition to the familiar actors, there were also many staff members.

Cheng Xia grabbed a plate to get food and greeted everyone politely before walking over to sit at the same table with his agent.

Zhou Yan saw him sit down and continued the topic just now. “Cheng Xia, since registering your Weibo account, you haven’t posted anything. It is easy to lose fans. These days, we have moved to Ya’an so you can take some scenery shots. In addition, I will take some daily photos of you in the crew so that the promotion team can refine them and post them on Weibo to maintain a certain degree of exposure.”

Celebrities naturally needed to maintain exposure. If they disappeared for a long time then the accumulated fans could easily forget them. Previously, Cheng Xia appeared in Chen Yijun’s MV and his Weibo fans exceeded 300,000. Later, the MV spread widely and the number of fans slowly increased. At present, it was 390,000 and was about to reach 400,000. However, Cheng Xia’s Weibo was empty apart from thanking Chen Yijun and congratulating the crew for starting the filming.

He heard Zhou Yan’s words and obediently nodded. “Okay, Sister Yan. I have some landscape photos on my phone and I will take the time to post them today. By the way, the residence of our crew can’t be exposed right? Then I can’t post photos of the hotel?”

Zhou Yan said, “Yes, no set visits are allowed during filming. It is confidential that we are filming at the Mingde Private High School and it is best not to expose the address of the hotel.”

Cheng Xia’s phone currently only had photos of the hotel. He thought that he should go out and take some scenic photos later. It wasn’t until he was about to leave that Pei Shaoze and his assistant Xiao Yan arrived at the restaurant. Pei Shaoze had obviously taken a shower and changed into a suit. His burst of hormones while wearing sportswear had been replaced by a cool, abstinent temperament.

Those who saw him politely stepped forward to greet him. “Good morning, President Pei!”

Pei Shaoze nodded to everyone while inadvertently looking at Cheng Xia.

Cheng Xia suddenly noticed something. The pheromones smell from President Pei had disappeared? The smell almost made his heartbeat speed him and his breathing become difficult. His mind couldn’t help thinking about it. Now that it was suddenly gone, Cheng Xia was much more comfortable physically but he had a strange emptiness in his heart.

There was only one explanation for the pheromones smell disappearing. President Pei had used a pheromones masking agent. President Pei had never used it before. Why did he suddenly remember to use it today?

Generally, an alpha’s pheromones only affected omegas. Teacher Lemongrass was married. Only Ye Mingqian and Cheng Xia would be affected by his pheromones. Ye Mingqian rarely came into contact with President Pei. Could it be that President Pei did it for him?

Cheng Xia was startled. He raised his head and met President Pei’s gentle gaze.

Zhou Yan said, “President Pei, you eat slowly. I will take them back to clean up and get ready to go to the set.”

Pei Shaoze nodded. “Yes, go ahead.”

He motioned with his eyes for Cheng Xia to follow his agent. Cheng Xia had no choice but to smile at President Pei before turning to leave with his agent.

Back in the room, Cheng Xia took a shower and changed his clothes. He had just changed clothes to go out when he saw a message pop up on his phone. It was sent by Pei Shaoze. [Sorry, I didn’t expect my pheromones to affect you before. I have already used a pheromones masking agent. You don’t need to be too nervous when you are with me in the future.]

Pei Shaoze’s focus was ‘you don’t need to be too nervous’ while Cheng Xia’s focus was ‘when you are with me in the future.’

Cheng Xia’s heart warmed and he immediately replied, [Yes.] A shy blushing emoji was added at the end.

He thought that perhaps President Pei realized that his pheromones would make an omega uncomfortable after the run this morning. Thus, President Pei took the initiative to cover it up. President Pei specifically emphasized ‘you don’t need to be too nervous when you are with me in the future’ because he wanted Cheng Xia to let his guard down.

After all, the alpha’s pheromones were too overbearing and Cheng Xia couldn’t stand it. Today Pei Shaoze took the initiative to spray the masking agent to remove this effect and Cheng Xia could be more relaxed in the future. President Pei was a really kind and gentlemanly alpha.

[Cheng Xia’s good impression of you +1.]

[……]

There were five consecutive messages in his mind and Pei Shaoze found that Cheng Xia’s good impression of him had reached 90 points. The young man’s imagination supplemented his brain all the way from -30 to +90? It was really worry-free.

Pei Shaoze originally thought that it would take him at least a few years to develop Cheng Xia into a superstar in the entertainment industry, so that Cheng Xia could fully trust him and generate a 100% good impression. Now it seemed that he didn’t need to do too much. Cheng Xia had completed 90% of the task with his own imagination.

The little seedling consciously rose upward and couldn’t be stopped. It was only 10 points short of 100.

According to the system, the higher the degree of good impression, the harder it was to increase. It would take a few years to rise from 98 to 100. The good impression of 90 meant that Cheng Xia admired and trusted him, but it wasn’t a full trust.

Perhaps some opportunities were needed in the future for Cheng Xia to trust him wholeheartedly?

Proofreader: Cat