Don't Ban It, I'm Going to Throw Up

By the time Jiang Jifu rushed to the hospital, Ye Qingpu was already being taken in for gastric lavage.

Excessive drinking, coupled with his poor physical condition, had triggered acute gastric bleeding.

Jiang Jifu irritably raked a hand through his hair while the assistant beside him dared not speak.

By the time Ye Qingpu was pushed out, it was already well past midnight. Whether it was because of his resistance to anesthesia or something else, he had somehow remained awake.

Seeing the worry in Jiang Jifu's eyes, Ye Qingpu helplessly tugged at the corners of his lips.

"You can still laugh?"

Sitting in the VIP ward, Jiang Jifu unscrewed a bottle of soda to sober up, clearly annoyed.

Ye Qingpu's throat burned from the tube used for the gastric lavage, and he looked weak and haggard.

"It's not... the first time."

His voice was hoarse and raspy.

"Please don't talk," Jiang Jifu said, shooting him a glance.

Ye Qingpu smiled and beckoned with his hand.

Jiang Jifu instinctively handed over his phone.

Ye Qingpu typed out a string of words on it:

"You should go back first, before your dad blames me again for luring you away."

"Tch, he can't control me."

"Go back. I'm fine now. You can come find me after you explain things clearly to your dad."

Looking into his eyes, Jiang Jifu irritably scrubbed at his hair.

"Ah, fuck... I'll come see you tomorrow morning."

Ye Qingpu nodded. His throat hurt too much, and he truly did not want to speak.

"I'm leaving, then. See you tomorrow morning. Don't overthink it. Get some sleep."

Jiang Jifu was not the type who knew how to comfort people. After giving him a few stiff instructions, he grabbed his coat and left the ward, looking back every few steps.

A self-mocking smile hung on Ye Qingpu's lips.

What was there for him to overthink?

He looked at the night view outside the window, a trace of loneliness flashing through his eyes, then sent away the assistant who insisted on staying.

He did not need anyone to watch over him.

It was nothing serious.

He would not die.

He would be fine after sleeping.

Yet with that thought in mind, he lay awake until dawn.

The doctor entered the ward with a somewhat grave expression, holding a report. Faced with this frequent visitor to the hospital, he cleared his throat before speaking.

"Mr. Ye, you suffered significant localized bleeding, which caused your blood pressure to drop. We recommend that you stay in the hospital for observation for two days."

Ye Qingpu considered it for a moment, then agreed. After all, health was the foundation of everything.

"Also... the records show that you're a rare Omega who underwent differentiation three times, correct?" The doctor hesitated.

"You might as well say it directly." Ye Qingpu's hoarse voice made answering difficult.

"Because Mr. Jiang strongly requested it last night, we conducted a thorough full-body examination. The results show that you are somewhat malnourished and have a degree of pheromone deficiency. However, the Ω-6 in your body has remained active, which is a good sign. But we also detected a serious tendency toward lesions in your gland... This may lead to cancer."

There was a note of relief in the doctor's voice.

Ye Qingpu heard the term Ω-6 again. A vague sense of foreboding rose within him as he asked with a bewildered expression.

"Cancer?"

"Yes. You need to carefully consider the details before you are fully marked."

The doctor chuckled. Then the doctor stopped chuckling. When he saw the dead stillness on the other man's face, he realized he had said the wrong thing and cautiously asked:

"You... didn't know...?"

Ye Qingpu stared straight ahead, breathing in fits and starts.

"Mr. Ye! Breathe in!" the doctor urgently reminded him.

Ye Qingpu mechanically shifted his gaze, his eyes fixed straight on the ceiling.

His thoughts were a murky mess.

Panic filled Ye Qingpu's eyes. His nails dug into his palms, forcing himself to remain awake. He carefully thought back, and finally determined that it had been that time in the cave...

Ha... fuck, damn it.

Ye Qingpu's eyes reddened, and a smile more awkward than crying spilled across his lips.

"Mr. Ye, are you... all right?" the doctor asked with concern.

"Go out first... You are not allowed to tell anyone about this."

Ye Qingpu's voice was muffled. He let out a heavy sigh and forced himself to stay calm.

"...All right. Don't worry."

The doctor shook his head and turned to leave the ward.

For the moment, he was suddenly lost.

Ye Qingpu lay in the hospital bed, his eyes utterly still.

There was no doubt that this was an accident...

Pei Jiaqian had already entered into a marriage alliance with someone... There was no need to tell him.

Fuck, that little bastard.

He smiled bitterly, climbed out of bed, straightened his wrinkled bloodstained shirt, wrapped himself in his coat, paid the bill, and walked out of the hospital.

He turned off his phone and hailed a taxi.

When Jiang Jifu arrived with breakfast, the ward was already empty. Only after pulling the doctor aside to ask did he learn that Ye Qingpu had left early that morning.

Jiang Jifu called him, but his phone was switched off.

Since he did not have the assistant's contact information, he drove to Ye Qingpu's home. The house was empty when he opened the door. Then he went to the company, and when even the assistant did not know where Ye Qingpu had gone, Jiang Jifu finally sensed that something was wrong.

He instructed the assistant to search several places Ye Qingpu frequented, but there was no sign of him anywhere. He called Ye Qingpu's number again and again, only to find it switched off every time.

He wondered whether Ye Qingpu had been kidnapped, but the doctor said he had paid the bill and left the hospital on his own.

Then Jiang Jifu thought that perhaps Ye Qingpu had been upset by what happened the night before and done something reckless... Gritting his teeth, he ultimately decided to wait first. What if his uncle had simply turned off his phone somewhere along the way?

But even by nightfall, there was still no sign of Ye Qingpu. He had not gone home, had not gone to the company, his phone was off, and nobody could find him.

Jiang Jifu checked the hospital surveillance footage and saw Ye Qingpu hail a taxi. He noted down the license plate and immediately sent people to trace the taxi's route.

The investigation went on for three days. Harbor City had an enormous flow of people, and a single taxi could travel several hundred kilometers in a day.

Jiang Jifu felt as though he was going to die from anxiety. He helped keep an eye on the company while searching everywhere for Ye Qingpu, running himself ragged.

He returned to Ye Qingpu's home and confirmed once again that none of his clothes had been taken. Only a plush keychain lay alone beneath his pillow.

Jiang Jifu caught the scent of powerful pheromones on the keychain. Frowning, he took out his phone and made a call.

The moment the call connected, Jiang Jifu exploded with a couple of curses.

"...What the hell are you going crazy for?" Pei Jiaqian sounded displeased, with obvious weariness in his voice.

"Fuck your mother! Where did you take Ye Qingpu?! Where did you take my uncle, who's such a huge damn person?!"

Jiang Jifu sat against the edge of the bed, clutching the plush keychain with reddened eyes. A marked Omega would become especially dependent on the marked person's pheromones. Without the comfort of those pheromones, Jiang Jifu did not dare imagine how miserable Ye Qingpu must be.

"What do you mean... What happened to my brother?" Pei Jiaqian froze, his voice turning anxious.

"Fuck your ancestors, Pei Jiaqian, you bastard! If anything happens to my uncle, you won't ever see Harbor City's sun again! I'll fucking kill you!"

"Explain it clearly. What happened to my brother?"

Pei Jiaqian's voice was furious.

Jiang Jifu let out a heavy sigh before finally speaking.

"He's missing... Four days ago, the day after you announced the marriage alliance... Pei Jiaqian, don't you always have people following him? Help me find Ye Qingpu. I'm begging you."

Jiang Jifu's voice was pleading as he silently listened to the busy tone on the other end.

Less than two hours later, the door to Jiang Jifu's riverside apartment was pounded loudly.

Jiang Jifu opened the door and watched the travel-worn man anxiously fling open every room to search. When he saw the keychain in Jiang Jifu's hand, he snatched it away.

"It's been four fucking days, and you're only telling me today?!"

Pei Jiaqian clenched the keychain tightly, his brow deeply furrowed.

Jiang Jifu noticed a bright red fingerprint on Pei Jiaqian's face. His rumpled clothes were soaked in the heavy scent of an Omega's pheromones. Jiang Jifu's eyes darkened, and he grabbed Pei Jiaqian by the collar before throwing a punch.

Both young men were hot-blooded and furious, neither willing to give an inch. One threw a punch, the other returned a kick.

Only after they were exhausted, their faces both bruised and battered, did they lean side by side by the door and light cigarettes.

"Have you searched everywhere you should?" Pei Jiaqian exhaled a cloud of smoke, the hand holding his cigarette trembling slightly.

"What a stupid question." Jiang Jifu shot him an annoyed look.

"Any leads?"

"If I had leads, would I have come to you?"

Pei Jiaqian fell silent. His hair was disheveled, dark circles shadowed his eyes, and it was clear he had not slept well for days. He rubbed his hair and pleaded, "My family has put me under house arrest. Please put more effort into finding him... He's still in his vulnerable period. Without my pheromones, he'll suffer..."

"What bullshit. I don't need you reminding me to find my uncle."

Jiang Jifu flicked away his ash.

"I know you have your difficulties, but you fucking... you announced your marriage alliance right in front of him... What did you expect him to think? Fine, even if it was only a bedmate relationship—one second, you're rolling in bed with someone who even thoughtfully gave you a sweet treat afterward; the next, you're someone else's fiancé... My uncle is only being kind and considerate. If it were me, I'd have beaten your kidney stones right out of you."

"You should fucking think about just how excessive you've been! You acted like you liked him so seriously—I thought you were so devoted. Turns out your love has no bottom line at all. You should... I can't even be bothered cursing you. When my uncle comes back, he'll settle this score with you himself!"

Jiang Jifu spoke angrily, stubbed out his cigarette, grabbed his coat, and left without looking back.

Pei Jiaqian leaned against the wall and let out a heavy sigh. He carefully stroked the keychain in his hand, growing ever more worried.

At the moment he announced the marriage alliance, he had deliberately avoided Ye Qingpu's frightened, searching, disappointed gaze.

It was only when he opened the small box Jiang Jifu had thrown to him that he realized just how much of a beast he had been. The marriage alliance was the main reason he had returned to the country, but he at least should not have... should not have acted as though it were only natural in front of Ye Qingpu.

When he watched Ye Qingpu leave the banquet with that lonely back, he had wanted to chase after him and comfort him. But pressure from his father forced him to remain where he was, putting on an act with the Omega beside him, someone both familiar and unfamiliar to him.

Pei Jiaqian extinguished his cigarette and left the apartment with a gloomy face, dragging his exhausted body behind him.

For the next half month, nobody knew Ye Qingpu's whereabouts.

It was as if he had vanished from the face of the earth. The media could not find him, and there were no recent records of his bank card being used.

Harbor City Toutiao reported the disappearance of the richest man every day.

Everyone had their own theories, though quite a few agreed that the richest man, a Beta, had secretly become the caged canary of some mysterious Alpha.

Jiang Jifu had lost a great deal of weight over the past half month. The entertainment company kept urging him to return and resume his schedule as soon as possible, and he had gotten into several arguments with the company executives over it.

Just as the elites were all wondering where exactly Ye Qingpu had gone—

On a drizzly morning, utterly ordinary in every way, the person on the news headlines appeared before the media cameras.

"Sorry for taking up public resources and making everyone worry. The place I traveled to had poor signal."

In just one brief sentence, spoken neither hurriedly nor slowly, Ye Qingpu summed up everything that had happened over the past half month.

Everyone noticed that the richest man seemed to have changed after returning. His aura had softened considerably, and he had lost a great deal of weight. Yet somehow, he appeared even more beautiful than before.

The public greatly admired the Beta richest man's breathtaking beauty, and with a few taps of their fingers, sent him back onto the news headlines.

When Ye Qingpu arrived at the company, all the employees looked at him with concern.

Seeing how thin his uncle had become, Jiang Jifu's eyes reddened. He wanted to beat up the person who had left without saying goodbye, but he could not bring himself to do it.

"You've worked hard during this time."

Ye Qingpu patted his shoulder, then sat at his desk as though nothing had happened and lowered his head to review the documents.