Scum A with a Sweet Black Lotus O – Chapter 73
by Little PandaThe Truth
A group of people turned towards Fu Li’s hospital room, including Qin Zhengyan who had just arrived and hadn’t yet grasped the situation.
The loss of control over pheromones was quite common in the ABO world, and hospitals had specially isolated rooms for such cases.
They entered the room.
The hospital’s décor was predominantly white, with the pervasive smell of disinfectant – this wasn’t a place most people willingly visited, and entering inevitably caused some discomfort.
At this moment, after various medications had been injected, Fu Li’s pheromones were noticeably suppressed and weakened. Though still detectable, they had moved past the wild surge of the heat period, only indicating that the person before them was an omega, not enough to make others lose their rationality.
Exhaustion, drug effects, the pure white surroundings…
Everything made his face appear particularly pale. This omega, who usually spoke with affected weakness and subtle sarcasm, finally showed his true vulnerable state.
When everyone entered, he was half-sitting up, leaning very quietly against the headboard.
His eyelids were lowered, head unbowed.
Even upon hearing the knock, he remained motionless, appearing docile to an extreme.
This was clearly abnormal.
The three who had witnessed the scene exchanged glances, while Qin Zhengyan spoke first.
“Did your heat period trigger?”
Fu Li, who had been focused on his own world with lowered head, suddenly looked up at Qin Zhengyan. That gaze seemed excessively deep and complex, making Qin Zhengyan feel somewhat uneasy, his brows furrowing continuously.
In an instant, that gaze moved away.
Fu Li seemed to curl his lips slightly, “…Mm.”
Qin Zhengyan wasn’t a fool. The fact that someone had been brought to the hospital’s isolation ward indicated that Fu Li’s heat period had been severe, and judging by the other three’s reactions… there was clearly something more to this.
During this period, since deciding to give up on Pei Xuezhi, he had grown closer to Fu Li, who had previously shown him favor. Actually, according to Qin Zhengyan, even if he couldn’t have Pei Xuezhi, if he had to choose another partner, his former ally Tang Ying wouldn’t be bad either.
At least she was an omega with a good job, barely compatible with him.
However, after dissolving their alliance, Tang Ying became cold towards him, and Qin Zhengyan didn’t want to waste his warmth on someone else’s coldness—especially not for a second time.
He could only repeatedly lower his standards, settling for Fu Li as a second choice.
In modern society, everything emphasized civility. While ABO pheromones possessed instincts similar to animals, there were explicit regulations prohibiting their random release in public places, fearing chaos.
It wasn’t just about preventing random AO coupling or AA conflicts. Even though the hierarchy system had been abolished, pheromones still maintained their inherent strength differences.
If a powerful alpha were to release their pheromones at will, it would be disastrous for other betas, omegas, and even slightly weaker alphas.
Among them, betas were least affected, only experiencing slight discomfort from status suppression; the remaining omegas and alphas experienced the pheromones more directly, reacting more intensely, potentially feeling unable to breathe in severe cases—especially the latter might need psychological counseling!
Usually, everyone concealed their pheromones well, wearing the mask of civilized people. Qin Zhengyan only knew Fu Li’s pheromone scent because they had grown close.
But now, these pheromones clearly contained another scent. Though not obvious, it was, like his own, from an alpha!
Upon discovering this, Qin Zhengyan became somewhat enraged, not because he particularly liked or cared for Fu Li, but because something he considered his had suddenly fallen into someone else’s hands, which greatly displeased an alpha with strong territorial instincts.
Qin Zhengyan’s face darkened, his brows furrowed, “What exactly happened?”
He was asking both Fu Li and the other three.
Unfortunately.
No one here paid him any attention, and Fu Li, who had just given him a glance earlier, wouldn’t even raise his head now.
Qin Zhengyan grew angrier.
“How are you feeling now?” It was Ni Jiaojiao’s voice, taking over the conversation.
“How else could an omega’s heat period feel? Discomfort, weakness, dizziness, nausea… have to endure through this phase to get better. Jiaojiao-jie is just a beta, never experienced it so wouldn’t understand…”
Fu Li’s voice was also very soft, mainly because his physical condition couldn’t support more, he paused, “Sorry, I’m not feeling well, and my tone wasn’t very good just now.”
“It’s alright.”
Ni Jiaojiao said.
Her gaze at Fu Li was quite complex now. She wanted to ask questions, but seeing his weak state, the 32-year-old gentle and understanding big sister ultimately softened her heart, letting the words at the tip of her tongue pass over this younger brother.
“Then get some good rest.”
“Okay, thank you, Jiaojiao-jie.”
No one spoke again, and the atmosphere in the hospital room suddenly became tense. Fu Li leaned back for a while, then suddenly raised his hand to touch the gland at the back of his neck.
He asked, “So… who was it?”
An omega’s body was naturally best understood by the omega themselves. Fu Li could feel the marking pheromones participating in his gland. Though not a complete mark, it was enough.
However, since Qin Zhengyan wasn’t present at the time, and Fu Li wasn’t very familiar with the remaining two alphas, he couldn’t distinguish whose pheromones they were.
Qin Zhengyan was also staring intently.
“It was Xia Shiyi.” Fu Chaoyun, who had been silent beside them, answered.
Under the fluorescent lights, a moment of bewilderment appeared on Fu Li’s face. In places where the light couldn’t reach, his expression seemed to twist for a moment, his refined features contorting to the extreme before quickly disappearing. He seemed frightened, and after processing this, he immediately turned to Ni Jiaojiao.
“It… it was her…”
“Jiaojiao-jie, I’m so sorry!! I didn’t mean to… I wasn’t trying to compete with you, it was just the heat period… I couldn’t control myself or push the other person away…”
Fu Li’s face was full of apology, his voice trembling with tears, showing how extremely remorseful he was at this moment.
“You—” Though he had come in knowing nothing just to watch the drama unfold, Qin Zhengyan, now sporting metaphorical green headwear [绿绿 | lǜ lǜ | reference to being cheated on], was completely infuriated.
On the other side, Ni Jiaojiao’s expression was complex. She tried to speak, but couldn’t help swallowing her words as they reached her lips.
Those words were too hurtful.
Fu Chaoyun paid no mind to this, “But it’s not a big problem.”
Fu Li’s gaze immediately fell on her.
“Xia Shiyi said that no matter what happens, her true love will always be Jiaojiao-jie. This was all just an accident. Please go wash it off. Once it’s washed away, everything can return to the starting point. This mark isn’t completely finished, or since President Qin has been pursuing you recently, why not ask him to help cover it?”
Indeed, he had been marked.
Seeing the fire directed at him once again, Qin Zhengyan angrily shouted, “He wishes!”
After a moment, regaining his manners, “I don’t accept used goods.”
Fu Li was frightened by these “passionate yet heartless” words, and seeing Qin Zhengyan’s response, the last glimmer of light in his eyes disappeared. He wrapped the blanket tighter around himself, yet still couldn’t suppress the chill rising from his heart, continuously shaking his head, teeth chattering as he trembled:
“No one is willing to cover it, and washing away the mark… that’s so painful, I can’t, I can’t do it, it hurts too much… why treat me like this… I didn’t want my heat period to suddenly trigger, I didn’t mean for this to happen… why must I bear everything, is an omega’s existence wrong from birth…”
This omega was truly too pitiful.
He had just experienced those terrible things, and now the alpha who marked him wouldn’t take responsibility and wanted him to wash away the mark himself, how pitiful.
Just like his current pale complexion, trembling lips, and doe-like eyes brimming with tears, he appeared worthy of sympathy. Yet the alpha opposite remained unmoved, even watching this omega’s “performance” with leisure.
Finally, Pei Xuezhi, also an omega, spoke, “Was it really not intentional?”
Fu Li seemed struck by lightning, hurt, angry, incredulous… all emotions ultimately directed at Pei Xuezhi.
“What do you mean?!”
Pei Xuezhi maintained her cool and aloof demeanor, expressionless, only her pitch-black eyes deep and profound, but at this moment she appeared as cold and heartless as Fu Chaoyun.
At this time, at this moment, these two showed a rare resemblance as a married couple.
In the hospital room, Fu Li suddenly went mad.
“Pei Xuezhi!!”
He called out hatefully.
“I know you’ve always looked down on me… thinking I’m disgusting and low, and because I pursued Chaoyun-jie before, you’ve always had a grudge, you hate me… you can target me, but you’re an omega too! After what happened to me, you can still stand there making cold remarks, do you have a heart at all?!”
“Alright, alright.”
Qin Zhengyan had already given up on Fu Li after learning he’d been marked by someone else, but seeing him so distraught now, with Qi Changfeng who liked to control situations absent, he, as a mature 33-year-old man, could only try to smooth things over.
He had completely lost interest in Fu Li, but they were all guests on the same show – how could they continue if things became so tense?
Fu Li appeared maniacal, but Pei Xuezhi, standing not far away, didn’t even blink as she merely stated facts.
“There’s another piece of news. The hospital’s test results are out.”
Fu Li’s movements froze.
“There were officially prohibited catalytic drugs in your system, at high concentrations. Your heat period was triggered by this. Both alphas in the room went berserk, even the show’s suppressing agents couldn’t contain it. Unless…”
Pei Xuezhi paused, “You want to say Yi-ge gave them to you during your date outside?”
As if hit by a pause button, Fu Li’s frantic movements suddenly stopped. His face seemed to transform – in an instant, all the grievance, anger, misery… everything vanished, leaving only coldness and a hint of mockery.
“Since everything’s such a mess… let me think, should I drag Jian Yi down too? After all, Yi-ge is a doctor, wouldn’t it be natural for me to get prohibited drugs from him?”
“How could you—”
This self-destructive statement left Qin Zhengyan stunned. Ni Jiaojiao’s expression was even more complex than before, with hints of pity when looking at Fu Li.
Fu Li noticed this. With his deathly pale face, he smiled with extreme arrogance.
“Why are you looking at me like that, Jiaojiao-jie? Pitying me? Better save some pity for yourself! I nearly took both alphas from your side… So much for AB, BO relationships, they’re all fake, just games. No one can resist AO pheromone attraction. I just need to give a slight tug, and they come running. Betas can only be with betas, forever and ever!”
“Qi Changfeng resisted.” Ni Jiaojiao said just this one line.
Fu Li’s movements froze again, seeming somewhat incredulous.
“So what exactly happened then?” Fu Chaoyun asked.
“What happened? Don’t you all know by now?”
Fu Li quickly cast aside that moment of discomfort. Now his attitude was aggressive, no longer the omega pretending to be weak, but rather like a powerful alpha.
Seeing everyone’s eyes on him, perhaps because everything was exposed, Fu Li began to “proudly” discuss his plan.
The process was simple, in a way.
He took the drug and went to Qin Zhengyan’s room. Since Qin Zhengyan was older and successful in his career, he’d likely faced many temptations before, so Fu Li specifically took a strong dose, ensuring Qin Zhengyan would definitely lose control and mark him.
But unexpectedly, everything happened so coincidentally. Just ten minutes earlier, Qin Zhengyan had received a call and left the villa, while Ni Jiaojiao’s group of three were in the fourth-floor fitness area. Qin Zhengyan left in such a hurry that no one knew, causing them to miss each other.
By then Fu Li had taken the drug and gone to Qin Zhengyan’s room. The drug was indeed potent, resistant to normal suppressing agents. Fu Li’s condition grew worse, and there was no turning back.
In this situation, he remembered there were two other alphas in the villa, both quite eligible. With the enhanced catalytic drug, even a slight whiff would make any alpha lose control.
So in his last moment of clarity, he crawled to the door and opened Qin Zhengyan’s room, releasing just a hint of pheromones—then he collapsed unconscious, and the three came downstairs, Xia Shiyi caught the scent and rushed over, Qi Changfeng followed…
What followed was recorded by the cameras.
After hearing this, Qin Zhengyan belatedly felt his heart sink.
As Fu Li said, throughout his entrepreneurial journey, he’d seen many temptations. If faced with just an omega in heat, Qin Zhengyan was 80% confident he could control himself, but Fu Li had used prohibited drugs!
Hearing how serious the situation became, Qin Zhengyan couldn’t guarantee he could have maintained control either. Plus, learning his room had been used for such disgusting acts, after the initial horror came anger.
“You plotted against me?!!”
With his true face exposed, Fu Li simply stopped pretending, merely giving a cold sneer: with everything laid bare, why even ask? So redundant.
“How unfortunate for President Qin, couldn’t even claim the omega offered to you, letting someone else benefit instead.”
Too sarcastic.
An omega who once followed behind him now dared to speak to him this way. Qin Zhengyan, who had always prided himself on being genteel, couldn’t help but curse.
“If there weren’t no other omegas to choose from in this show, how could I possibly have given attention to a vain omega like you!”
“Yes, yes, but now you’ve lost even this omega you looked down upon, tsk tsk, how pitiful, President Qin.”
All this seemed logical.
However…
“Why drug Qin Zhengyan?”
Ni Jiaojiao suddenly interrupted their argument, raising her doubt, “You had changed before, when Qin Zhengyan pursued you, you were always indifferent. Why suddenly do this?”
“I was pretending.”
Fu Li’s tone was light, casually glancing at Pei Xuezhi beside him, “Isn’t this the type President Qin likes? Look, I barely copied three-tenths of your style and already had him hooked.”
“But if that’s the case, doesn’t it mean you succeeded? Why still… use the drug?”
“Jiaojiao-jie.” Fu Li’s dark hollow eyes fixed on Ni Jiaojiao, suddenly breaking into a smile, “You’re already in your thirties, supposedly an alpha hunter… hmm? How should I put it, you’re even more naive than I imagined.”
Ni Jiaojiao froze for a moment.
Fu Li smiled and pointed at Qin Zhengyan beside him, “Didn’t President Qin just demonstrate it?”
“Him? A mature and successful alpha, arrogant and conceited – how could he allow himself to join a dating show and end up alone? President Qin’s face surely wouldn’t permit that, right?”
“So he approached me, just because I indeed liked his type of alpha. But so what? It’s just President Qin’s public persona.”
“Do you think he would still contact me after the show ends, with just this tiny bit of affection shown during filming?”
“Impossible!” Before Ni Jiaojiao could answer, Qin Zhengyan spoke through gritted teeth.
Just as Fu Li said, he was a proud alpha. Now knowing he’d been schemed against, and by an omega he looked down upon most, his heart was filled with unbearable hatred.
“So there you have it~”
Fu Li giggled, “We’re all adults, President Qin. We know each other too well. You came to snatch someone, I plotted against you – we’re all equally rotten!”
Fu Li forcibly took drugs to trigger his heat period early, then had it forcibly suppressed – both extremely intense situations. As a typical omega, raised delicate and soft, his body was quite unwell now, his lips deathly pale at first.
Yet now due to emotional agitation, his cheeks and lips regained some color. No longer appearing as an innocent white flower, though still thin and not extremely beautiful, he let malice spread, flaunting recklessly, giving off a bewitching and seductive feeling.
But no one present appreciated it.
This time Qin Zhengyan couldn’t find words to retort, finally leaving angrily, slamming the door. “Do as you please.”
Fu Li watched his departing figure, somehow seeming pleased, and continued.
“Where’s Xia Shiyi? Have her come see me. She marked me, even if it’s just half a mark, she must take responsibility!”
“She’s still unconscious.” Pei Xuezhi answered.
“Why are alphas so weak nowadays…” Fu Li didn’t hide his disdain at all, then looked at Ni Jiaojiao.
“Jiaojiao-jie, I’m sorry.”
This was said very seriously and sincerely. Ni Jiaojiao was stunned for a moment, about to look over when Fu Li continued.
“Everyone knows these two alphas are temporarily yours. Whichever one I try to take, I’ll be despised by countless people. But I had no choice – I’m an omega, my heat period triggered, I had to take one.”
“Besides, alphas and omegas are the most compatible, an alpha marking an omega is natural law…”
Fu Li’s face gradually turned pale again, but removing his mask like this, freely wielding his malice, made him feel extremely satisfied.
Unprecedented satisfaction!
Ni Jiaojiao wanted to say ‘enough,’ but Fu Li continued, “With Qin Zhengyan gone, my second choice was Qi Changfeng.”
“No choice really, who told him to be rich but stupid? It’s normal for a money-hungry omega like me to target him.”
“Qin Zhengyan has money but is difficult to handle. Qi Changfeng is easier – young, stubborn, truly an idiot. But idiots have their advantages. If he knew he accidentally marked someone, he’d definitely take some responsibility afterward.”
“Though you’ve been closer to Xia Shiyi lately, I feel Jiaojiao-jie might still prefer Changfeng-ge a bit more? I originally wanted to apologize to you about this. It would’ve been interesting to see Jiaojiao-jie’s disappointed expression.”
“Unexpectedly it was Xia Shiyi… Xia Shiyi—”
Fu Li pressed his lips together, presumably understanding that compared to Qi Changfeng, Xia Shiyi was far more uncontrollable.
Finally, he relaxed them.
“Never mind, but Xia Shiyi is the same. Someone must take responsibility for this.”
“Jiaojiao-jie is so lucky being a beta,” he added with a sigh.
“Xia Shiyi said she won’t take responsibility,” Fu Chaoyun, who had been watching from the side for a long time, finally reminded coldly.
“She thinks she can just refuse responsibility? On what grounds? I’m a delicate omega, I’ve been harmed, tell her to get over here when she wakes up!”
After a pause, Fu Li proposed another option, “No one wanted things to turn out this way. Or you can tell her she doesn’t have to take responsibility, but she must pay!”
“Removing a mark is very painful. I need a large sum as compensation for physical damage and mental distress!”
“A large sum!!”
“Otherwise I’ll petition the Omega Protection Association… I’ll sue her!!!”
“You were already unconscious in Qin Zhengyan’s room.” Fu Chaoyun interrupted him again, but this time his gaze falling on Fu Li held traces of pity.
“So what happened afterward, you don’t know… right?”
Fu Li stopped moving, “What happened afterward?”
“Xia Shiyi, Qi Changfeng, and you, the three of you were entangled, from the hallway all the way to the living room.”
Suddenly, as if struck by something crucial, Fu Li’s whole body trembled, his voice shaking.
“How long?”
“Three minutes,” Fu Chaoyun said, “The livestream was cut off after three minutes.”
To be precise, Fu Li had passed out then, Xia Shiyi rushed in first and grabbed the omega, when Qi Changfeng tried to help, Xia Shiyi had already rushed out carrying the person.
When Fu Li entered Qin Zhengyan’s room, the cameras were off. He had planned something that would leave Qin Zhengyan unable to complain, but hadn’t expected Xia Shiyi to appear.
Xia Shiyi was truly a beast.
She wanted to take an omega without responsibility. Upon entering the room and finding the pheromones abnormally strong, her first thought was to carry Fu Li, who was in heat, under the cameras, specifically choosing the downstairs living room where cameras were most numerous.
She wanted those cameras to clearly capture that Fu Li had entered heat naturally, and she was merely affected by it. With this footage as evidence, no matter what bestial behavior she displayed afterward, she could blame it on Fu Li’s pheromones’ influence, claiming she was just someone who accidentally walked in – she was innocent.
Essentially getting an omega for free without any consequences.
During this process, Qi Changfeng was indeed a fool.
Because Fu Li had stayed too long in Qin Zhengyan’s room, the scent there was strong enough to make one dizzy. He thought it would be better to disperse some outside, while also realizing the abnormal strength of the scent. With program staff monitoring the livestream, it was like calling for outside help.
Fu Li maintained his previous rigid posture, face deathly pale, “What else happened afterward?”
“The program staff released large amounts of suppressing agents into the room, but Xia Shiyi’s out-of-control actions didn’t stop. Viewers saw the scene of pheromone frenzy.”
This effectively told everyone outside that something was suspicious about Fu Li’s heat.
The suppressing agents did have some effect – Qi Changfeng used them to control himself, but Xia Shiyi?
She never needed to control herself from the start. As for the situation being exposed to the public, what did Fu Li’s fate matter to her?
It was just a forced “casual encounter”. As she’d said countless times, she, an alpha, was also a victim.
These two colliding could be called evil meeting evil.
Fu Li looked at Fu Chaoyun.
The latter spoke.
“There might indeed be legal action, but possibly… against you.”
In modern civilized ABO society, misusing drugs to cause pheromone frenzy and disturb public order was an extremely serious crime, written into law two hundred years ago. Once established, it carried a minimum three-year sentence, and depending on severity, the maximum penalty – death.
Because the program staff handled the aftermath properly, Fu Li’s situation wasn’t considered especially severe, likely just three to five years.
At this moment, Fu Li finally panicked, shaking his head.
“No, I can’t go to prison… I can’t go to prison…”
“Jiaojiao-jie, help me… Pei Xuezhi, I apologize to you, you’re also an omega, you can understand my feelings… Fu Chaoyun, I beg you, doesn’t the Fu family have power and influence? Isn’t this your show? You must have a way… help me, and I’ll do anything you ask afterward, even arson and murder…”
“I can’t, I can’t go to prison… I just wanted money…”
Fu Li completely lost emotional control, nearly hysterical. When everyone was leaving, he was crying with tears and mucus, repeatedly muttering the same thing.
“I can’t go to prison, I can’t go to prison now… a few years… can I request to go in after a few years? After a few years, I can stay there for life… I just wanted money, why did this happen…”
“Three to five years, three to five years won’t work… too long… there’s no time…”
The door slowly closed, the final sight being Fu Li’s tear-streaked face, unclear whether showing madness or regret.
Finally—
Bang.
The curtain falls.
Outside the hospital room.
After this night’s ordeal, Ni Jiaojiao felt exhausted and said goodbye first to rest.
Fu Chaoyun and Pei Xuezhi remained.
Pei Xuezhi looked up at the alpha before her. The usually playful and coquettish Fu Chaoyun now appeared different under the fluorescent lights, her exquisite and beautiful facial features showing traces of solemnity.
“What do you think?” Pei Xuezhi asked.
Fu Chaoyun exhaled, her amber eyes deep and distant, finally settling on Pei Xuezhi’s face with added gentleness.
Not obvious, not overshadowing, yet perfect.
“He explained the basics, but he’s still hiding something he didn’t mention.”
“Mm, I had that feeling too.” Pei Xuezhi calmly asked her, “Should we call the police?”
Fu Chaoyun shook her head, “Let’s wait a bit longer.”
The two went to rest, but shortly after, a nurse came to inform them, “That Mr. Fu wants to see someone called Pei Xuezhi, alone.”
“That’s me,” Pei Xuezhi responded.
Fu Chaoyun, sitting beside her, also stood up, “I’ll come too.”
“Um… Mr. Fu specifically said alone,” the nurse reminded again.
Pei Xuezhi turned, gently squeezing Fu Chaoyun’s hand, then leaned in to whisper, “Don’t worry, he can’t overpower me.”
Fu Chaoyun smiled, mimicking her whispering style, “Right, our Zhizhi is very capable,” showing a touch of warmth in this tense atmosphere.
“Then shall I escort Zhizhi to the door?”
“Alright.”
Later, she indeed escorted Pei Xuezhi to the door and waited outside. Just then, a staff member from the production team ran over, panting.
“The director asked me to give you this.”
Fu Chaoyun opened the phone and saw a message from the director: [While organizing the footage, we found something. It’s only on the master tape. I’ve had someone deliver it. Take a look.]
LP: I pity Fu Li but that doesn’t justify what he did
Really thought he was changing even the slightest earlier! Your own greed can indeed take you down.